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The  Making 
.  of  the  . 
West  Indies 


THE  GORDONS 
AS    COLONISTS 


BY  J.  M.  BULLOCH 


BUCKIE  : 
Privately  printed  by  W.  F.  Johnston  &  Sons 


National  Librae  of  Scotland 
*B000248139* 


The  Making  of  the  West  Indies 

The  Gordons  as  Colonists 


[BY   J.   M.   BULLOCH.] 


Perhaps  the  most  important  fact  of  our  Domi- 
nions beyond  the  Seas  at  this  moment  is  the  good 
fortune  of  which  is  to  come  to  the  West  Indies 
through  the  opening  of  the  Panama  Canal.  Most 
of  us  to-day  are  inclined  to  regard  the  West  Indies 
as  the  Cinderella  of  Empire.  They  certainly  struck 
Mr  Chamberlain  very  forcibly  in  that  light,  and 
had  as  much  as  anything  to  do  with  his  conversion 
on  the  fiscal  question.  But  •  time  was  when  they 
were  rare  money-makers,  especially  to  Scotsmen, 
who  played  a  notable  part  in  their  development. 
Many  a  laird  of  to-day  can  trace  the  possession  of 
his  acres  to  the  West  Indies,  and  Glasgow  has  a 
special  cause  to  be  grateful. 

The  West  Indies,  forming  an  archipelago  stretch- 
ing from  Florida  to  the  north  coast  of  Venezuela, 
include  40  inhabited  islands,  with  a  total  area  of 
100,000  square  miles,  or  a  fifth  less  than  the  United 
Kingdom.  The  islands  vary  in  size  from  less  than 
two  miles  square  to  44,000,  which  is  the  size  of 
Cuba.  Great  Britain  owns  nearly  13,000  square 
miles  of  them,  with  a  population  of  1,400,000,  and 
many  a  north  country  soldier  laid  down  his  life 
to  help  us  to  get  possession  of  them. 

Many  causes  went  to  check  the  prosperity  which 
once  was  theirs.  That,  however,  belongs  to  the 
thorny  subject  of  political  economy.  Of  far  greater 
interest  to  us  is  the  personal  note — who  were  the 
men  who  helped  to  develop  our  holdings  there? 
In  the  absence  of  any  regular  attempt  to  tell  this 
story  completely,  I  have  tried  to  find  out  how  the 
Gordons  had  the  guidin'  o't. 

The  task  is  not  easy,  for,  as  in  the  case  of 
Jamaica,  many  of  the  ©Id  records  have  been 
destroyed.       But    as    if    in    anticipation    of    the 

3 


renaisance  of  the  West  Indies,  historians  have  had 
a  great  quarry  of  material  placed  at  their  disposal 
in  the  opening  to  the  public  of  the  Slave  Com- 
pensation papers.  On  August  28,  1833,  an  Act 
(3  and  4  William  IV.,  C  73)  was  passed  for  the 
abolition  of  slavery  throughout  the  British  colonies 
and  for  the  promotion  of  industry  among  the 
manumitted  slaves,  and  for  compensation  to  the 
persons  hitherto  entitled  to  the  services  of  such 
slaves  by  the  grant  from  Parliament  of  £20,000,000. 
Thus,  slavery  terminated  in  the  British  possessions, 
770,280  slaves  being  freed  by  August  1,  1834,  while 
four  years  later  slavery  was  abolished  in  the  East 
Indies.  In  assessing  the  slave  owners'  claims,  a 
vast  amount  of  interesting  material  was  got  by  the 
Compensation  Commissioners.  This  material,  forming 
part  of  the  Treasury  Papers,  was  deposited  in  the 
Public  Record  Office,  London,  on  June  23,  1892, 
but  was  made  available  for  the  public  (by  a 
Treasury  letter)  only  so  recently  as  March  17,  1913. 
The  papers  fill  no  fewer  than  184-7  volumes,  and 
are  catalogued  by  the  general  designation 
"T.[reasury]  71."  They  consist  of  several  classes, 
of  which  these  are  the  most  important : — 

Registers  of  Slaves  (665  volumes) — T.71,   1-665. 

Valuers'  Original  Returns— T.71,  666-833. 

Claims   and   Certificates— T.71,   852-1089. 

Counter  Claims— T.71,   1090-1502. 

Indexes— T.71,   1503-1531. 

Small  Registers— T.71,  1533-1595. 

Great  Registers— T.71,  1596-1607. 

I  need  scarcely  say  it  has  not  been  possible  for 
me  to  go  over  all  these  documents,  but  I  have 
taken  out  all  the  Gordons  from  the  Registers,  and 
students  who  wish  to  follow  this  up  can  easily  do 
so,  because  I  have  given  the  number  of  the  claim, 
which  runs  through  all  the  different  classes  of 
inquiry  into  it.  I  have  supplemented  these  facts 
from  other  sources,  so  that  we  get  a  fair  idea  of 
who  was  who  in  the  West  Indies,  so  far  as  the 
great  house  of  Gordon  was  connected.  I  arrange 
the  lists  alphabetically  in  colonies. 

ANTIGUA. 

Discovered  by  Columbus  in  1493,  this  island 
occupies  108  square  miles,  or  just  one-sixth  of 
Banffshire,  which  is  641.  It  was  settled  by  the 
British  in  1632,  and  became  a  crown  colony  in 
1898.  It  is  now  the  seat  of  government  of  the 
Leeward  Islands.    It  is  the  only  one  of  the  West 

4 


Indies  to  have  had  its  history  thoroughly  cleared 
up,  for  De  Vere  Langford  Oliver  has  written  an 
account  of  it  running  into  three  folios  of  1379 
pages    (1894-9). 

Adam  Gordon  witnessed  the  will,  dated  April  19, 
1808,  of  George  Powell,  Antigua.  Am  Adam  was 
a  merchant  in  Antigua  on  November  23,  1819 
(Oliver's  "Antigua,"  i.,  33,  354). 

Alexander  Gordon,  57  Old  Broad  Street,  London, 
together  with  Samuel  Martin  and  William  Man- 
ning, got  under  trust,  August,  1829,  the  planta- 
tions of  James  Nibbs,  Antigua  (Oliver's  "Antigua," 
ii.,  297). 

Charles  Gordon  of  Custom  House,  Parham.  He 
had  a  son, 

Charles  Campbell  Gordon,  who  got  from  his 
grandmother,  Mary  Hunt  of  Parham  Town  (will, 
Dec.  23,  1808)  three  negroes  and  £1250  (Oliver's 
"Antigua,"  i.,  352).  As  agent  for  Susanna  Gordon, 
he  made  a  return  of  her  slaves,  eight  in  number, 
on  Sept.  20,  1817 ;  and  as  agent  for  Margaret 
Gibbs,  he  made  a  return  on  the  same  date  for  one 
slave,  "Jenny,"  aged  50  (P.R.O.,  T.71,  1531,  pp. 
21,  24). 

Daniel  H.  O.  Gordon  got  £104  Is  8d  compensa- 
tion for  eight  slaves  (Oliver's  "Antigua,"  i.,  313). 
He  was  executor  for  Susannah  Gordon  (q.v.). 

George  Gordon,  major  in  the  8th  West  India 
Regiment,  died  at  Antiqua,  after  a  few  days'  ill- 
ness, in  his  23rd  year,  on  Oct.  28,  1809. 

Henry  Gordon,  surgeon  at  Dr  Buckshorn's,  was 
buried  Nov.  23,  1743  (Oliver's  "Antigua,"  ii.,  27). 

James  Gordon,  laird  of  Knockespock  (died  1768), 
owned  several  estates  in  the  West  Indies,  to  which 
he  went  out  as  a  young  man.  He  was  the  son  of 
George  Gordon  (one  of  the  Gordons  of  Auchlyne, 
cadets  of  the  Terpersie  Gordons),  who  bought 
Knockespock  from  John  Gordon,  the  famous  Jaco- 
bite laird  of  Glenbucket,  about  1708;  and  who 
founded  the  third  group  of  Gordons  in  possession 
of  Knockespock.  George  Gordon  was  succeeded  in 
Knockespock  by  his  son  James,  the  West  Indian 
nabob,  and  the  latter  was  succeeded  in  turn  by 
the  descendants  of  his  sister  Margaret,  who  married 
a  Brebner,  then  by  the  descendants  of  his  sister 
Barbara,  who  married  a  Grant,  and,  thirdly,  again, 
by  the  descendants  of  his  elder  sister,  the  Brebner- 
Gordons,  who  are  now  known  as  Fellowes  Gordon — 
a  peculiarly  complicated  story  of  succession.  For 
our  present  purpose,  it  is  enough  to  deal  with  the 
Antiguan  estates  of  the  family.     JameB  of  Knockes- 


pock  may  be  the  James  Gordon  who  was  nominated 
to  the  Colonial  Council  in  174-3  (Acts  of  the  Privy 
Council,  England's  Colonial  Series).  The  estates 
were : — 

Lavingtons :  185  acres,  of  which  155  were  culti- 
vated (Oliver's  "Antigua,"  ii.,  27).  I  do  not  know 
when  this  estate  was  bought  by  the  Knockespock 
Gordons,  but  in  1836  it  was  in  the  possession  of 
James  Adam  Gordon  (1791-1854),  who  was  the 
great  grand-nephew  of  the  aforesaid  James,  being 
the  great  grandson  of  the  latter's  sister,  Margaret, 
who  married  James  Brebner,  Towie,  and  had  a 
son,  James  Berbner  (1723-1807),  who  became  a 
judge  in  Grenada,  and  took  the  name  of  Gordon. 
There  were  152  slaves  in  the  estate  of  Lavingtons 
in  1836.  Counter  claims  were  entered  by  Sir 
William  Abdy,  bart. ;  Sir  Thomas  Fellowes,  the 
Rev.  George  Caldwell,  Cheltenham ;  and  James 
Adam  Gordon,  of  Naish  House,  Portbury,  Somerset, 
as  owner  in  fee.  The  claimant  withdrew  the  claim 
in  favour  of  himself  and  the  other  claimants,  and 
the  counter  claimants  were  awarded  £2289  14s  8d. 

Martin's  estate. — This  property  was  leased  in 
1738  by  James  Gordon  (apparently  the  great  grand 
uncle  of  James  Adam  Gordon),  and  was  purchased 
by  him  in  1767  from  Valentine  Morris.  In  1799, 
it  was  held  on  trust  for  James  Brebner  Gordon. 
It  contained  126  acres  (Oliver's  "Antigua,"  i.,  379). 

Gales  estate. — This  property,  of  300  acres,  was 
in  the  possession  of  R.  Rigby  in  1746,  but  had  been 
acquired  by  James  Gordon  of  Knockespock,  who 
devised  it  in  1766  in  trust  for  his  nephew,  Captain 
F.  Grant  Gordon,  whose  son,  Col.,  afterwards 
General  Sir,  J.  Willoughby  Gordon,  owned  it  in 
1806  (Ibid.,  i.,  384). 

Monk's  Hill.— 172  acres,  all  pasture  (Ibid.,  ii.,  27). 

Osborne. — 217  acres,  all  pasture  (Ibid.,  ii.,  27). 

Sandersons. — 311  acres,  of  which  about  230  were 
cultivated.  It  contained  314-  slaves  in  1836.  There 
were  the  same  counter  claims  as  in  the  case  of 
Lavingtons,  and  the  counter  claimants  got  £4627 
lis  lid  (P.R.O.,  T.71,  1558,  claim  342). 

Jane  Eliza  Gordon  married  on  Dec.  11,  1817, 
Captain  Wright  Knox.  She  was  the  "daughter  of 
the  late  G.  G.  Gordon,  Antigua,  and  niece  of  the 
late  Sir  Willoughby  Aston,  bart."  ("Gentleman's 
Magazine,"  vol.  87,  part  ii.,  p.  628).  As  a  matter 
of  fact  she  was  the  daughter  of  Captain  Francis 
Grant  Gordon  (died  1803)  and  sister  of  Sir  J. 
Willoughby  Gordon  of  the  Knockespock  family. 

6 


Mary  Grant  Gordon  got  £412  for  24  slaves, 
January  16,  1837;  claim  1051  (Oliver's  "Antigua," 
L,   318). 

Mary  Jane  Norman  Gordon,  St  John,  married, 
April  11,  1865,  Oheeseman  Moe  Braithwait  (Ibid., 
i.,  383). 

Nathaniel  Gordon  married,  Dec.  7,  1701,  Mary 
Albert,  widow,  of  St  John's  parish  (Ibid.,  ii.,  27). 

S.  Gordon,  St  John,  as  executor  for  S.  Gordon, 
got  £98  5s  2d  for  10  slaves,  Nov.  23,  1835  (P.R.O., 
T.71,  1558,  claim  821). 

Sarah  Gordon.  Thomas  Kippin,  executor  for 
Sarah  Gordon,  and  attorney  for  Sarah  Gordon, 
Susan  Gordon,  Elizabeth  Gibson,  deceased,  and 
Margaret  Gibbs,  joint  owners  in  fee,  St  John, 
claimed  for  two  slaves  (P.R.O.,  T.71,  1558,  claim 
823).  Kippin,  as  executor  of  Sarah  Gordon  (who 
was  executrix  of  Elizabeth  Gibson)  got  £56  16s  8d 
for  six  slaves,  1836  (P.R.O.,  T.71,  1558,  claim  824). 

Sarah  Ann  Gordon  was  the  daughter  of  William 
Lynch,  planter,  Antigua,  whose  will,  dated  Aug.  8, 
1775,    was   proved,    Jany.   23,    1788.       She   married 

■ Gordon,    and    had    three    children,    William, 

Charles,  and  Elizabeth,  all  beneficiaries  under 
Lynch's   will   (Oliver's   "Antigua,"   ii.,   205). 

Susannah  Gordon,  St  John,  owner  in  fee,  claim- 
ing through  Thomas  Kippin,  got  £104  for  eight 
slaves,  Nov.  23,  1835.  There  was  a  request  for  an 
amended  award  in  favour  of  Daniel  H.  O.  Gordon, 
executor  of  the  estate  of  Susannah  Gordon,  de- 
ceased. At  this  time  Daniel  H.  O.  Gordon  was 
21  years  of  age,  and  the  amended  award  was  made 
to  him  (P.R.O.,  T.71,  1558,  claim  826). 

Captain  William  Gordon,  with  one  male  slave, 
appears  in  a  census  of  the  island  in  1753  (Oliver's 
"Antigua,"  i.,  p.  cxii.). 

Dr  William  Gordon,  with  one  male  slave,  was 
also  in  the  census  of  1753  (Ibid.).  He  is  probably 
the  William  Gordon,  siirgeon,  who  married  Mary 
Lillie,  St  John's  Parish,  Feb.  14,  1754,  and  had 
William,  baptised  Feb.  19,  1755,  and  George,  bap- 
tised Nov.  28,  1756  (Oliver's  "Antigua,"  ii.,  27). 

William  Gordon,  "merchant,  many  years  resident 
in  this  island,  who  died  July  27,  1847,  aged  37 
years,"  is  commemorated  by  a  marble  scroll  erected 
"by  a  few  friends,"  on  the  west  side  of  St  John's 
Cathedral  (Oliver's  "Antigua,"  ii.,  28). 

BAHAMAS. 
The  Bahamas  include  670  islands  and  islets,  caller 
cays  [CAYS]  or  keys,  embracing  5450  square  miles 

7 


and  having  a  population  of  60,000.  No  Gordons 
owned  slaves  there.  But,  indeed,  I  have  found 
only  one  Gordon  at  all,  namely, 

Eev.  William  Gordon,  a  Scotsman,  who  was  a 
missionary  there,  sent  out  by  the  Society  for  the 
Propagation  of  the  Gospel.  His  chief  station 
Exuma,  1789-95 :  then  Harbour  Island  and  Elen- 
thera,  1795-99,  when  he  resigned  ("S.P.G.  Records," 
5th  ed.,  p.   884). 

BARBADOS. 

Barbados,  which  is  166  square  miles,  je  one  of  he 
West  Indian  islands  where  the  Gordons  went — 
sparingly ;  for  only  one  family  craved  compensation 
from  the  Slave  Commissioners  in  1836.  This  is 
probably  due  to  the  fact  that  the  island  had  been 
used  as  a  penal  settlement  for  the  Jacobite 
prisoners,  so  that  the  word  "Barbadosed"  came  to 
be  a  euphemism  for  banishment.  In  Southey's 
"West  Indies"  (ii.  211)  it  is  stated  that  in  1716, 
"one  hundred  of  the  prisoners  taken  at  Preston  in 
Lanrashire,  who  had  been  confined  in  the  Savoy, 
were  shipped  off  to  the  West  Indies."  Mr  Gra- 
ham Cruickshank,  of  the  Audit  Office,  British 
Guiana,  suggests  in  "Notes  and  Quesies"  (July  27, 
1907)  that  Barbados,  "  a  favourite  isle  of  banish- 
ment," probably  got  its  share  though  he  has  been 
unable  to  trace  the  arrival  of  any  such  prisoners. 
It  is  much  more  certain  that  the  prisoners  of  1745 
were  sent  there.  Thus,  Jesse  in  his  "Memoirs  of 
the  Jacobites"  states  (p.  275)  that  a  large  number 
of  prisoners  were  shipped  there.  Mr  Cruickshank 
has  a  copy  of  an  "Indenture,"  signed  by  127  Jaco- 
bite prisoners,  who  were  apparently  sent  to  Bar- 
bados in  the  ship  "Frere"  in  1746.  The  list 
includes  20  Macdonalds,  19  Mackenzies,  and  16 
Grants;  112  of  the  prisoners  sign  by  "mark." 

Curiously  enough,  one  of  the  Gordons  who  we 
know  definitely  was  in  Barbados  was  a  typical  Gor- 
don in  the  art  of  getting  into  trouble,  although  he 
actually  wore  the  cloth ;  while  another  who  came 
to  loggerheads  with  authority  was  a  public  official 
holding  the  post  of  Provost  Marshal. 

George  Gordon  was  appointed  Provost  Marshal, 
May  21,  1707  ("Harleian"  MSS.,  British  Museum, 
2262  p.  29).  He  was  soon  in  trouble  under  the 
following  circumstances.  By  two  Acts,  passed  in 
the  General  Assembly  of  Barbados,  in  1707  and 
1708,  the  Committees  and  Commissioners  of  As- 
sembly were  empowered  to  appoint  their  own 
marshals,  and  the  judges  of  the  Court  of  Common 


pleas  had  also  taken  on  them  to  do  the  same,  re- 
fusing to  admit  the  deputies  nominated  by  Gordon. 
So  Gordon  petitioned  against  this  curtailment  of 
his  rights.  On  February  18,  1710,  the  Board  of 
Trade,  which  Gordon  had  petitioned  (June  9, 
1709),  reported  that  the  Governor  had  been  directed 
to  move  the  Assembly  to  pass  an  Act  for  settling 
a  salary  or  reasonable  fee  on  the  several  judges, 
and  for  restoring  to  the  clerks  and  marshals  the 
fees  mentioned  in  the  Acts  ("Acts  of  the  Privy 
Council  of  England":  Colonial). 
Robert  Gordon,  Barbados  and  St  Nevis,  married 

Jessie  Anne ,  who  died  May  8,  1913  ("Times"). 

Their  eldest  son  was 

Robert  Gordon,  who  married,  27  Sept.,  1905, 

in  the  Church  of  St  Andrew,  Framingham  Earl, 

Constance  Jane  Alston,  eldest  daughter  of  the 

late  Edward  Graham  Alston,  Queens  Advocate, 

Sierra   Leone    ("Times"). 

Robert  Charles  Gordon  and  his  son  (also  Robert 

Charles)    claimed    in   1836    through    Jacob    Rogers, 

parish    of    St    Michael,    their    attorney,    for    three 

slaves  (P.R.O.,  T.71,  1005,  claim  1487). 

Captain  Simon  Gordon  deponed  on  July  25,  1660, 
that  he  and  "several  other  free  Englishmen"  had 
emigrated  by  the  "William  and  John"  in  1821  for 
Barbados  ("Cavaliers  and  Roundheads  in  Barba- 
dos," p.  27).  He  is  apparently  the  Simon  who  is 
commemorated  by  an  epitaph  in  St  Stephen's 
parish,  Herts.  (Cusans'  "Hertfordshire,"  ii.,  284-5) : 
"Here  lyes  the  body  of  Captain  Simon  Gordan  of 
Bornhill  in  Harfordshire,  who  died  the  18  day  of 
October,  1669,  aged  68  years,  and  was  married  to 
Sarah  Hoste  18  years,  3  qvarters :  by  whom  he  had 
issve  2  sons  and  3  davghters.  Of  honest  birth,  of 
marchant  fame,  a  man  of  worthy  fame,  a  captain 
of  St  Christophers,  Simon  Gordan  by  name.  From 
burning  sone  to  frosen  sone,  his  youthful  years  he 
spent.  The  wonders  of  the  Lord  he  saw  to  his 
soul's  great  content.  Religious  was  his  life  to 
God;  to  men  his  dealing  just.  The  poore  and 
strangers  they  can  tel  that  wealth  was  not  his 
trust.  His  soul  to  God  he  did  commend,  his  body 
to  the  dust,  wheare  he  sings  continual  prais  in 
glory  with  the  just."  His  daughter  Martha  (died 
Nov.  30,  1736,  aged  81)  married  Edward  Shippery 
(died  March  2,   1724),   apothecary,  London. 

Thomas  Gordon  was  an  executor  under  the  will 
of  Claudius  Hamilton,  and  is  mentioned  in  a  peti- 
tion of  May  31,  1741  ("Acts  of  the  Privy  Council 
of  England:  Colonial"). 

9 


Rev.  William  Gordon  was  a  fine  fighter :  his  oppo- 
nents went  the  length  of  calling  him  a  rascal.  I 
do  not  know  his  origin;  for  though  he  wrote  a  sort 
of  autobiography  as  a  preface  to  a  thanksgiving 
sermon,  which  caused  a  world  of  worry,  he  is 
vague.  "I  am,"  he  says  (p.  xxiv.)  "the  son  of  a 
worthy  gentleman,  of  a  very  ancient  family :  I 
have  the  education  of  a  gentleman."  He  then 
goes  on  to  tell  his  story  thus  (p.  xxix) : — "In  May, 
1699,  being  just  then  come  from  Oxford,  I  was  by 
the  Rev.  Dr  Forbes  recommended  to  the  Bishop  of 
London,  but  for  want  of  age,  and  no  other  quali- 
fication, I  was  not  admitted  into  holy  orders. 
However,  his  lordship  sent  me  with  a  licence  under 
his  episcopal  seal  to  teach  a  Latin  school  in  the 
quality  of  King's  Chaplain  to  the  West  Indies. 
As  such,  he  commended  me  first  to  the  Treasury, 
where  I  received  His  Majesty's  bounty  money  to 
defray  the  charges  of  my  voyage,  and  as  such  he 
recommended  me  to  the  Governor  of  Barbadoes." 
Now,  whether  he  was  at  Oxford  I  cannot  say.  He 
is  not  in  Foster's  list  of  alumni.  But  he  certainly 
got  a  post  there,  for  in  a  list  of  sixteen  letters 
from  the  Bishop  of  London  to  the  Lords  of  Council 
soliciting  the  usual  bounty  of  £20  for  chaplains 
going  abroad  occurs  the  name  of  Mr  William 
Gordon,  schoolmaster  to  the  Barbados,  May  27, 
1699  ("Treasury  Papers,"  vol.  64,  No.  59);  William 
Gordon,  clerk,  Barbados,  May  3,  1699  (Gerald 
Fothergill's  "List  of  Emigrant  Ministers  to  America, 
1690-1811,"  p.  30) ;  also  January  10,  1700-1711  (ibid., 
p.  30).  Continuing  his  narrative,  Gordon  says 
(p.  xxx.)  that  he  arrived  in  Barbados  in  "July  or 
August,"  1699,  "and  for  six  or  seven  weeks,  and 
no  longer,  I  lodged  with  a  fellow  passenger  of 
mine,  one  Mr  Curtis,  eat  [ate]  as  he  did,  and  slept 
in  the  same  chamber,  having  intended  to  embrace 
an  offer  he  made  me  of  my  accommodation  and 
a  house  to  teach  school  in,  in  consideration  of 
instructing  him  and  his  brother  in  the  Latin 
tongue,  provided  nothing  better  offered.  But  his 
Excellency,  the  then  governor,  and  the  Rev.  Mr 
Cryer,  having  advised  me  to  join  schools  with  the 
Rev.  Mr  Callow,  Rector  of  St  Philips,  I  did  so, 
and  we  equally  divided  the  profits,  without  being 
any  more  his  usher  than  he  was  mine,  for  about 
two  months,  and  then  returned  to  Oxford,  and  at 
the  Christmas  term  following  was  ordained  pub- 
lickly  at  St  Paul's,  after  being  examined  by  the 
Bishop  of  London,  Bishop  Beveridge,  Dr  Stanley, 
Dr    Ishan,    Dr    Altham,    and    Mr    Melling,    as    by 

10 


their  certificate  of  approbation,  endorsed  upon  my 
diploma  for  my  master  of  Arts  degree,  and  ready 
to  be  produced  .  .  .  will  appear.  [One  cannot 
verify  this,  because,  as  Dean  Inge  tells  me,  the 
records  at  the  Cathedral  do  not  go  so  far  back.] 
In  April  following  I  was  sent  by  the  Bishop  of 
London  to  have  the  first  vacancy  in  this  island 
[Barbados],  who  was  pleased  in  his  letter  to  the 
then  governor  to  say  as  follows: — 'I  cannot  let 
this  ingenious  young  gentleman  return  without 
recommending  him  to  the  first  vacancy,  etc' " 

Gordon  was  first  Rector  of  St  James's,  where  he 
delivered  a  funeral  sermon  on  his  friend  Codring- 
ton,  the  governor,  who  died  in  that  year  at  the 
age  of  42,  leaving  his  Barbados  estates  to  found 
Codrington  College  there,  while  he  also  left  £30,000 
to  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel, 
and  benefited  All  Souls'  College,  Oxford.  The 
sermon,  which  is  in  the  British  Museum,  is  en- 
titled :— 

"A  sermon  preach'd  at  the  funeral  of  the  Honour- 
able Colonel  Christopher  Codrington,  late  Captain, 
General,  and  Governor-in-Cbief  of  His  Majesty's 
Carribbee  Islands,  who  departed  this  life  at  his 
seat  in  Barbados  on  Good  Friday,  the  7th  of  April, 
1710,  and  was  interr'd  the  day  following  in  the 
Parish  Church  of  St  Michael."  By  William  Gordon, 
M.A.,  Rector  of  St  James's-in-Barbados.  London : 
printed  for  G.  Strahan  at  the  Golden  Ball  over 
against  the  Royal  Exchange  in  Cornhill,  MDCCX., 
4to,  pp.  24.  The  sermon  is  dedicated  to  the 
President,  Vice  Presidents,  and  members  of  the 
S.P.G.,  Gordon  giving  us  a  little  autobiographic 
touch : — 

"I  had  the  honour  of  enjoying  a  large  share  of 
his  favours  and  of  being  the  happy  companion  of 
his  studies  and  retirements  for  the  two  last  years 
of  his  life.  I  am,  upon  good  grounds,  perswaded 
that,  had  he  been  sooner  apprehensive  of  his  death, 
he  had  done  yet  greater  things  for  the  advance- 
ment of  learning  and  piety."  The  sermon,  which 
was  preached  from  the  text,  "We  know  that  when 
He  shall  appear,  we  shall  be  like  Him,  for  we 
shall  see  Him  as  He  is"  (1st  John,  iii.,  2),  is  typical 
of  the  rotund  rhetoric  of  the  period,  as  this  extract 
proves : — 

Codrington,  we  are  told,  "was  particularly  careful 
to  form  his  style  upon  the  great  models  of  anti- 
quity. Some  of  them  he  equalled;  some  of  them 
he  excelled.  His  style  was  fluent,  but  not  turgid; 
florid,  yet  natural  and  unaffected;  elegant,  but 
11 


not  over  wrought  or  forced.  In  his  studied  and 
elaborate  composures  there  was  an  inimitable 
beauty  and  efficacy,  whereby  he  would  at  once 
charm  the  affections,  move  passions,  and  convince 
the  understanding,  with  such  surprizing  turns, 
such  impetuous  force,  such  solid  reasons,  that  he 
spoke  nothing  but  Life  and  breathed  a  Soul  into 
the  dullest  argument  he  treated  of.  And  yet  his 
care  of  his  style  did  not  at  all  cramp  the  exactness 
of  his  most  refin'd  and  abstracted  enquiries,  for 
every  thought  was  plac'd  in  the  most  advantagous 
light  as  well  as  dress'd  in  the  gayest  manner,  and 
every  period  was  just  and  had  a  natural  cadence. 
In  the  same  discourse  he  would  display  the  orator 
and  the  philosopher  to  so  great  perfection  that  it 
was  hard  to  determine  in  which  he  most  excelled." 
Gordon  fell  out  with  the  Assembly,  which  in  an 
address  of  June  28,  1715,  describes  him  as  "a  person 
of  scandalous  and  infamous  life."  In  July,  1716, 
the  Bishop  of  London  without,  says  Gordon  "my 
privity  or  application,  was  pleased  to  send  me  a 
commission  to  be  his  commissary  of  Barbadoes." 
He  at  once  went  to  the  Governor,  Robert  Lowther, 
asking  for  the  latter's  allowance.  Lowther  did  not 
think  this  permitted  by  his  instructions,  and  asked 
Gordon  to  produce  further  evidence  from  the 
Bishop.  Notwithstanding  this,  his  Excellency, 
through  his  Deputy  Secretary,  Mr  Lenoir,  requested 
Gordon  to  preach  a  thanksgiving  sermon  for  the 
"happy  suppression  of  the  late  unnatural  rebellion," 
which  Gordon  duly  did,  on  August  18,  from  the 
132nd  psalm  (verse  18).  But  the  effect  only  served 
to  widen  the  breach  between  the  Governor  and 
the  parson.  So  Gordon  took  occasion  to  wait  on 
His  Excellency  with  his  notes,  and  "humbly  prayed 
His  Excellency  to  point  out  what  passages  he 
thought  liable  to  exception.  First  he  told  me  that 
I  was  mistaken  in  matters  of  fact,  particularly  in 
saying  that  the  Church  of  England  stemm'd  Popery 
in  King  James's  time,  for  it  was  not  the  Church 
but  the  Nobility  and  Gentry.  To  that  objection 
I  took  the  liberty  of  answering  that  I  conceived 
the  Nobility  and  Gentry  to  be  the  Church  of 
England.  The  second  objection  was  my  having 
reflected  on  His  Majesty's  best  subjects  and  calling 
them  'fanatics' ;  repeating,  I  called  them  his  best 
subjects,  for  'tis  notorious  they  are  so.  To  this 
I  answered  that  I  hoped  the  church  were  as  good 
subjects,  and  that  I  neither  meant  nor  intended 
any  more  by  the  name  'fanatics'  than  a  genus  to 
comprehend  the  several  species  of  Dissenters.    The 

12 


third  and  last  exception  was  my  having  charged 
the  Dissenters  with  the  late  rebellion.  I  told  him 
that,  on  the  contrary,  I  had  laid  it  on  men  of 
different  principles,  and  pressed  him  to  read  my 
notes,  which  he  refused  to  do,  and  seemed,  as  I 
apprehended,  fairly  well  satisfied." 

Gordon  set  up  an  ecclesiastical  court,  which 
sat  on  Oct.  25,  1716.  His  action  seems  justified 
in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  Bishop  of  London 
sent  a  letter,  dated  Feb.  14,  1717,  in  support  of 
Gordon's  authority.  Lowther  was  furious.  In  a 
letter,  of  April  26,  he  answered  that  he  would  not 
admit  Gordon's  commission  till  he  had  seen  some 
authority  from  the  King  as  granting  it.  He  also 
represented  Gordon  a  very  unproper  person,  giving 
the  following  description  of  him : — "You  could  not 
have  pitched  on  a  more  insidious,  restless,  med- 
dling, and  ambitious  person  than  Mr  Gordon.  .  .  . 
You  could  not  have  appointed  a  worse  liver  and 
more  flagrant  incendiary,  nor  one  who  hath  given 
greater  marks  of  disaffection  to  our  happy  estab- 
lishment. Two-thirds  of  his  time  he  spent  in 
gaming,  trading,  and  caballing  and  mischief-mak- 
ing. He  came  a  contracted  servant  to  this  island. 
After  he  was  out  of  servitude,  he  got  to  be  an  usher, 
then  into  Holy  Orders ;  after  that  to  be  a  parson 
of  St.  James's  Parish,  and  then  to  be  a  parson  of 
St.  George's,  where  for  many  months  together  he 
neither  administered  the  sacraments,  visited  the 
sick,  preached,  prayed,  christened,  buried,  or  per- 
formed any  pastoral  duty  whatever.  In  short,  he 
left  his  flock  often  and  so  long,  and  went  so 
frequently  from  thence  to  the  Leeward  Islands, 
that  the  Antegeonians  called  him  the  'Wandering 
Apostle,'  and  the  French  at  Martinique,  'La  Mar- 
chand  Spiritual.'  Notwithstanding  all  which,  all 
his  profligate  patrons  (Mr  William  Sharp  and  Mr 
William  Walker)  preferred  him  to  a  lenfice  of 
£600  a  year,  which  he  now  enjoys ;  but  where's 
the  wonder,  since  he  had  been  their  tool  so  long 
and  is  a  man  so  entirely  after  their  own  hearts? 
The  sermon  he  preached  on  the  day  of  thanks- 
giving, which  I  appointed  to  be  observed  for  the 
happy  suppression  of  the  last  unnatural  Rebellion, 
was  nothing  but  a  virulent  satire  against  the  King's 
best  subjects  and  friends.  He  had  the  impudence 
to  assert  that  the  Whigs  were  the  promoters  and 
contrivers  of  the  late  Rebellion,  that  it  was  from 
them  all  our  animosities  arise,  and  from  them  all 
our  dangers  proceeded." 

Gordon  thereupon   wrote,   on  Dec.   12,   1716,   the 
13 


little  autiobiographic  account  which  I  have  quoted 
and  sent  it  to  the  Governor,  who  declined  to  read 
it.  He  defended  himself  vigorously  on  all  the 
objections  raised.  The  Council  unanimously  re- 
solved that  the  evil  character  assigned  to  Gordon 
was  true,  and  thanked  the  Governor  for  his  letter 
and  for  opposing  the  attempt  to  erect  a  spiritual 
court  in  the  island.  An  Act  was  also  passed 
depriving  Gordon  of  his  living.  Gordon  came  home 
in  the  beginning  of  September,  1718,  and  by  way 
of  vindicating  himself  issued  his  Thanksgiving 
Sermon  with  a  long  preface  (pp.  iii-xliii) : — 

"A  sermon  preach'd  before  the  Governor,  Council, 
and  General  Assembly  of  the  Island  of  Barbados 
in  the  parish  church  of  St.  Michael,  on  Friday, 
the  18th  of  August,  1716,  being  the  Thanksgiving 
Day  appointed  by  His  Excellency,  Robert  Lowther, 
Esq.,  for  the  suppression  of  the  late  Unnatural 
Rebellion :  by  William  Gordon,  M.A.,  Rector  of 
the  Parish  of  St.  Michael :  London"  [the  rest  of  the 
title  page  as  preserved  in  the  British  Museum  is 
missing].  In  his  preface  he  says : — "I  am  sensible 
that  the  following  sermon,  which  is  now  printed 
to  vindicate  me  from  the  charge  of  disaffection 
therein  to  our  present  Happy  Establishment, 
brought  against  me  by  His  Excellency,  Robert 
Lowther,  Esq.,  His  Majesty's  Governor  of  Bar- 
bados, is  too  incorrect  to  appear  in  print.  But 
since  there  was  a  necessity  of  publishing  it,  I  have 
done  it  without  the  alteration  of  one  single  word, 
choosing  rather  to  expose  the  reputation  of  my 
understanding  than  my  correcting  the  least  little 
of  the  sermon  to  give  my  enemies  a  handle  to  call 
my  sincerity  in  question." 

On  Dec.  17,  1718,  the  Grand  Jury  of  Barbados 
thanked  the  Goevrnor  for  opposing  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal court.  The  address  was  printed  in  the  "Post- 
man and  Whitehall  Evening  Post"  on  May  4,  1719; 
soon  after  which,  there  appeared  a  scandalous  libel 
entitled  "A  Representation  of  the  Miserable  State 
of  Barbados,  under  the  arbitrary  and  corrupt 
administration  of  His  Excellency,  Robert  Lowther, 
Esq.,  the  present  Governor."  It  was  proved  by 
several  affidavits  before  Lord  Chief  Justice  Pratt 
that  Gordon  wrote  a  preface  to  the  pamphlet,  and 
procured  the  whole  to  be  printed  in  London.  On 
Oct.  15  ,1719,  the  Governor,  with  the  advice  of  the 
Council,  published  a  "Declaration  in  answer  to  the 
libel."  Then  Gordon  brought  an  action  for  £10,000 
against  Lowther's  attorney,  Gallatius  Maomahon, 
for  losses  sustained  through  the  publication  of  the 
14 


"Declaration."  Lowther  therefore  prayed  that 
execution  be  respited  on  any  judgment  obtained 
against  him  by  Gordon,  on  his  giving  sufficient 
security  in  England  to  answer  His  Majesty's  final 
determination.  On  Oct.  20,  1722,  it  was  reported 
to  the  Privy  Council  that  the  Attorney  General 
recommended  that  the  Act  of  May,  1720,  be  con- 
firmed, and  that  repealing  it  disallowed,  but  sub- 
mits whether  the  petition  should  be  granted,  as 
that  would  be  in  effect  to  make  a  new  law  for  this 
particular  case.  As  to  Mr  Cox's  behaviour,  the 
Attorney  General  had  had  no  proofs  before  him, 
nor  had  any  opportunity  to  hear  the  parties  con- 
cerned ("Acts  of  the  Privy  Council  of  England : 
Colonial"). 

I  cannot  say  what  happened  to  Gordon — whether 
he  went  back  to  Barbados  or  stayed  in  England. 
BERBICE. 

Berbice  is  not  one  of  the  West  Indies ;  it  lies 
on  the  mainland  of  South  America ;  but  it  may 
be  included  in  the  present  category,  for  it  is 
nearer  the  West  Indies  than  any  other  part  of  our 
Dominions  beyond  the  Seas.  It  was  settled  in 
1626  by  the  Dutch,  who  surrendered  it  to  the 
British  in  1796,  1803,  and  finally  in  1814,  so  that 
it  is  celebrating  its  centenary  as  a  British  posses- 
sion. It  was  united  to  Demerara  and  named 
British  Guiana  (q.  v.)  in  1831.  The  first  Gordon 
connected  with  it  was  Robert  Gordon  (the  maternal 
grandfather  of  Adam  Lindsay  Gordon),  who  was 
governor  there.     Other  Gordons  were : — 

Christian  Gordon  had  three  female  6laves,  two 
born  in  Africa  and  one  in  Berbice,  in  1817  (T.71, 
422,  p.  158).  They  were  Elsey,  25  years  of  age; 
Venus,  35;  and  Mary,  nine  weeks.  Christian  Gor- 
don could  not  write,  but  made  her  "mark." 

George  Gordon  died  at  Berbice  after  a  few  days' 
illness,  Nov.  15,  1820.  "He  was  a  gentleman  of 
the  brightest  talents  and  of  the  most  polished  wit. 
His  society  was  courted  by  men  from  the  ease  and 
eloquence  of  his  manners  and  the  maturity  of  his 
judgment.  He  had  been  appointed  President  of 
the  Court  of  Justice  at  Berbice  by  the  late  Gover- 
nor Bentinck,  but  it  was  vacated  only  a  few  weeks 
before  his  death  by  the  reappointment  of  a  Mr 
Beard,  who  had  been  superseded  from  the  office. 
Mr  Gordon  has  left  an  amiable  widow  to  mourn 
his  loss,  in  which  all  who  had  the  honour  of  his 
friendship  will  sincerely  sympathise"  ("Scots  Mag.," 
vol.  8,  N.S.,  p.  284,  March,  1821;  condensed  in  the 
"Gent.'s  Mag.,"  vol.  91,  pt.  1,  p.  185). 
15 


Robert  Gordon,  governor  of  Berbice.  He  was  a 
younger  son  of  Robert  Gordon,  of  Hallhead,  and 
grandfather  of  Adam  Lindsay  Gordon,  the  poet, 
as  may  be  best  understood  by  stating  the  facts  in 
tabular  form : — 

Robert  Gordon  of  Hallhead : 

married   Lady   Henrietta  Gordon, 

dau.  of  2nd  Earl  of  Aberdeen. 


William  Gordon,  Robert  Gordon, 

Captain,  R.E.  Governor  of  Berbice, 

(1764-1803).  died  1814. 

Adam  Durnford  Gordon,  =       Henrietta    Gordon, 
died  1857  |  married  1829. 

Adam  Lindsay  Gordon, 
1833-1870. 

Dr  William  Gordon,  of  Berbice,  was  charged  at 
Bow  Street  in  1813  with  a  breach  of  the  peace,  in 
putting  in  bodily  fear  Hugh  Ross  by  sending  a 
challenge  to  him.  The  "Times"  (Aug.  10,  p.  3, 
col.  5)  says  that  Gordon  called  Ross  a  coward  for 
slandering  his  character,  when  the  doctor  was  4000 
miles  off ;  and  that  he  was  "shrunk  from  his  desert" 
under  the  pretext  that  he  intended  to  attack  him 
[Ross]  with  a  law  suit.  The  letter  enclosed  a 
placard  calling  Ross  a  lying  scoundrel  and  a  base 
coward,  "to  which  the  doctor  signed  his  name  and 
which  was  threatened  to  be  posed  wherever  his 
name  is  known,  unless  within  two  years  after  the 
receipt  of  it  he  acted  the  part  of  a  gentleman. 
The  doctor  stated  that  he  should  deliver  the  letter 
with  his  own  hand  at  ^-e  residence  of  Mr  Ross. 
The  letter  contained  a  variety  of  other  violent 
language  and  charges  against  Mr  Ross.  The  de- 
fendant after  this  sent  a  note  to  the  prosecutor 
called  "Ultimatum,"  which  desired  Mr  Ross  to 
acknowledge  in  writing  that  his  statement  of  the 
transaction  between  them  was  true,  and  that  what 
he  had  said  of  Dr  Gordon's  character  was  not 
correct  and  ask  pardon  or  suffer  the  most  degrading 
insults.  Mr  Kinnaird,  the  sitting  magistrate,  after 
a  suitable  admonition  to  Dr  Gordon  on  the  heinous 
nature  of  his  offence,  ordered  him  to  find  bail  and 
to  keep  the  peace  till  next  term,  himself  in  £500 
and  two  sureties  in  £250"  ("Times"). 

William  Gordon,  of  the  plantation  Maida,  on  the 
east   coast   of   Berbice,   who   was   dead  by   Dec.   1, 
1817,   held   184  slaves,   the  return   for   whom   was 
16 


made  by  John  Cameron,  curator.  Two  of  them, 
aged  16  and  17,  both  born  in  Berbice,  bore  the 
name  of  Gordon  (P.R.O.,  T.71,  422,  p.  153). 

Sir  William  Duff  Gordon  and  John  Murphy  held 
the  plantations,  Profit,  Support,  and  Relief,  on  the 
west  side  of  Berbice,  with  275  slaves,  the  return  for 
whom  was  made  by  Lewis  Cameron,  Dec.  19,  1817 
(P.R.O.,  T.71,  422,  p.  108).  Sir  William  (1772-1823) 
was  the  son  of  Alexander,  Lord  Rockville,  the  grand- 
son of  the  2nd  Earl  of  Aberdeen,  and  the  first  cousin 
of  Robert  Gordon,  the  Governor  of  Berbice.  He  had 
property  in  Spain  and  Mexico  and  was  in  partner- 
ship with  Murphy,  under  the  title  of  Gordon, 
Murphy,  and  Company. 

DEMERARA. 

Demerara,  like  Berbice,  is  also  in  British  Guiana. 
There  were  two  Gordons  there : — 

Robert  Gordon,  late  of  the  Hope  estate,  was 
married  at  Demerara  to  Miss  Anne  Parkinson, 
June  3,  1804  ("Scots   Magazine,"  vol.  66,  p.  806). 

T.  W.  Gordon,  of  Demerara,  was  dead  by  May 
28,  1832,  when  his  second  daughter,  Julie,  married 
at  Chealsea,  G.  A.  Starling,  M.D.,  of  Bishop  Stort- 
ford  ("Gentleman's  Magazine,"  vol.  182,  part  i.,  p. 
558). 

DOMINICA. 

Dominica,  one  of  the  Leeward  Islands,  lies  be- 
tween the  French  islands  of  Guadeloupe  and  Mar- 
tinique. It  was  discovered  on  a  Sunday  (Dominica) 
by  Columbus  in  1493.  Like  most  of  the  West  Indies 
its  ownership  is  a  chequered  history.  It  was  taken 
by  the  British  in  1761 ;  retaken  by  the  French  in 
1781 ;  and  restored  in  1783.  It  has  an  area  of  305 
square  miles. 

Hugh  Gordon  sailed,  1796-7,  from  Gravesend  to 
Dominica,  and  got  a  command  in  the  St.  George's 
Light  Infantry,  at  Rouseau.  He  took  part  in  a 
fight  with  a  French  privateer,  which  carried  off  a 
large  sugar-laden  sloop  (owned  by  a  captain  in  the 
regiment).  He  was  in  garrison  in  1803  during  the 
insurroction  at  Guadeloupe,  and  in  1804  was  sent 
to  the  Prince  Rupert's  garrison.  In  1805,  he  took 
part  in  the  defence  of  Dominica  against  the  French, 
and  returned  to  England  the  same  year.  He  seems 
to  be  the  Hugh  Gordon,  "late  of  Dominica,"  who 
married  at  Macduff,  Oct.  27,  1807,  Catherine, 
daughter  of  the  Rev.  Thomas  Wilson,  minister  of 
Gamrie  ("Scots  Mag.") ;  she  died  at  Dee  Castle, 
Aug.  10,  1810,  after  a  long  illness,  aged  22:  "her 
sweetness  of  manner  and  amiable  disposition  had 
17 


endeared  her  to  her  relatives  and  gained  her  the 
esteem  of  all  who  knew  her"  ("Aberdeen  Journal'"). 
He  seems  to  be  the  Hugh  Gordon,  Esq.,  "late  of 
Dominica,"  who  was  the  father  of  the  Rev.  Geo. 
Gordon  (1808-39),  minister  of  Knockando  (1833-39). 
Hugh  Gordon  was  apparently  the  author  of 
"Sketches  and  Revolutions  of  the  West  Indies,"  by 
a  Resident:  London,  Smith,  Elder  &  Co.,  1820: 
dedicated  to  James  Laing,  Esq.  of  Streatham  Hill, 
London,  "late  of  Dominica." 

Jane  Gordon,  spinster,  Roseau,  St.  George,  got 
£140  10s  Id  compensation  for  nine  slaves,  Nov.  23, 
1855  (P.R.O.,   T.71,   1562,   claim  828). 

Janet  Gordon,  Roseau,  got  £19  5s  8d  compensa- 
tion for  one  slave,  Nov.  20,  1835  (P.R.O.,  T.71, 
1562,  claim  1020).     See  also  St.  Vincent. 

John  Gordon  and  James  Matthews,  Providence 
estate,  St.  Patrick,  got  £2247  13s  lOd  for  102  slaves 
on  their  estate ;  and  £1706  14s  9d  for  85  slaves  on 
the  Bedminster  estate,  St.  Patrick,  on  Nov.  16, 
1835  (P.R.O.,  T.71,  1562,  claims  768  and  769). 
Gordon  and  Matthews,  as  surviving  partners  of 
Alexander  Sutherland,  were  mortgagees  under  a 
deed  dated  Dec.  4,  1821,  for  £2044  5s  9d  with 
interest  at  6  per  cent,  from  Jany.  1,  1826,  against 
the  slaves  in  possession  of  Marie  Adele  Beamish, 
and  raised  a  counter  claim  on  the  estate  of  Henry 
John  Glanville  and  John  Henry  Newman,  Morne 
Estate,  St.  Martin,  Dominica,  1835  (P.R.O.,  T.71, 
1562,  claim  169). 

John  Gordon  of  Roseau,  parish  of  St.  George, 
and  Charles  Alfred  Francklyn,  Tobago  (as  assignees 
of  Martha  Fleming  Otley,  of  the  mortgage  dated 
March  25,  1750,  secured  on  a  moiety  of  the  estate, 
£2400,  with  interest  at  5  per  cent,  from  April  30, 
1824),  put  in  a  counter  claim  to  Thomas  Coles, 
Hatton  Garden  estate,  St.  Andrew's  parish,  Domi- 
nica, who  had  225  slaves  (P.R.O.,  T.71,  1562,  claim 
144). 

Lucinda  Gordon,  Roseau,  got  £38  lis  5d  com- 
pensation for  two  slaves,  Nov.  30,  1835  (P.R.O., 
T.71,   1562,   claim  926). 

W.  Gordon,  "Esq.,  of  Dominica,"  had  a  daughter, 
Elizabeth  Sophia,  who  married,  Dec.  5,  1827,  at 
Chelsea,  James  Rae,  R.N. ;  Gordon  was  dead  at 
the  time  ("Gentleman's  Magazine,"  vol.  97,  part  ii., 
p.   556). 

William  Gordon,  of  Banff  and  Dominica,  died 
before  July  16,  1854,  on  which  date  his  widow, 
Mary,  died  at  Walton  House,  Eastway,  Kent,  aged 
18 


90   ("Gentleman's   Magazine,"   New   Series,    vol.    42, 
p.   314). 

GRENADA. 

Grenada,  the  southmost  of  the  Caribbees,  con- 
tains 133  square  miles.  Discovered  by  Columbus 
in  1498,  it  was  settled  by  the  French  in  1650 ;  taken 
by  the  British  in  1762;  retaken  by  the  French  in 
1779;  and  given  up  to  us  by  them  in  1783.  It  is 
the  headquarters  of  the  Windward  Government. 
Few  Gordons  seem  to  have  been  connected  with  it. 

Harry  Gordon,  Observator  plantation,  parish  of 
St.  Patrick,  got  £4498  Is  9d  compensation  for  167 
slaves,  Nov.  16,  1835  (P.R.O.,  T.71,  1561,  claim  703). 
This  may  be  Harry  Gordon  of  Knockespock  (1761- 
1836),  who  was  an  officer  in  the  army,  and  was 
taken  prisoner  at  Seringapatam.  His  father,  Col. 
Harry  Gordon,  R.E.,  of  Knockespock  (died  1787) 
spent  his  last  years  in  Grenada,  though  he  died  at 
Eastbourne. 

Peter  Gordon,  brother  of  Colonel  Harry  Gordon, 
R.E.,  of  Knockespock,  was  killed  in  a  duel  fought 
in  Grenada,  1768,  with  a  Mr  Proudfoot,  member 
of  the  House  of  Assembly.  He  was  successively  an 
officer  in  the  54th,  51st,  101st,  63rd,  and  70th  Foot. 

Peter  Gordon,  son  of  Colonel  Harry  Gordon, 
R.E.,  of  Knockespock,  was  drowned  in  Grenada, 
Oct.  1787.     He  had  gone  there  in  1778. 

BRITISH  GUIANA. 

Formerly  Berbice  (q.  v.)  and  Demerara  (q.  v.), 
which  now  form  two  of  its  three  counties.  It 
covers  90,277  square  miles. 

Anne  Gordon,  owner  in  fee  of  Cumingsburgh 
parish  of  St.  George,  got  £342  17s  2d  compensation 
for  seven  slaves  (P.R.O.,  T.71,  1567,  claims  1076 
and  1984). 

Cleone  Gordon,  owner  in  fee,  George  Town,  got 
£122  17s  compensation  for  three  slaves,  Dec'  I4 
1835  (P.R.O.,  T.71,  1567,  claim  1466). 

J.  Gordon  was  joint  proprietor  of  the  Devonshire 
Castle  estate.  On  Nov.  1,  1872,  Edward  Jenkins 
writing  from  the  Temple,  related  a  revolt  on  the 
estates  of  Devonshire  Castle,  Hampton  Court,  and 
Anne  Regina,  in  which  five  negroes  were  shot  and 
six  wounded.  On  Sept.  27,  1872,  the  manager  of 
Devonshire  Castle  had  a  man  arrested  for  dis- 
orderly conduct  in  the  buildings.  The  other  coolies 
thereon  threatened  his  wife  ("Times,"  Nov.  1,  1872 
p.  6).  On  Nov.  2,  Gordon  wrote  from  London  in 
reply  to  Jenkins'  letter  ("Times,"  p.  5).  Jenkins 
19 


replied,    Nov.   4   (p.    10),    and   Gordon   wrote   once 
again,  Nov.  6  (p.  10). 

James  Gordon,  owner  in  fee,  of  the  Mahaicony 
plantation,  Zealand,  got  £329  14s  5d  compensation 
for  six  slaves,  Nov.  30,  1835  (P.R.O.,  T.71,  1566, 
claim  611). 

James  Gordon,  Mahaicony  Ferry,  got  £895  5s  9d 
compensation  for  18  slaves,  Dec.  7,  1835  (P.R.O., 
T.71,  1566,  claim  807). 

John  Gordon,  owner,  parish  of  St.  George,  got 
£70  19s  9d  compensation  for  two  slaves,  Dec.  14, 
1835  (P.R.O.,  T.71,  1567,  claim  1332). 

S.  W.  Gordon.  Charles  Bean,  as  attorney  for 
J.  F.  Pinney,  and  C.  Pinney,  as  irrevocable  attor- 
nies  of  S.  W.  Gordon,  claimed  for  54  slaves  on 
Plantation  Mocha  (P.R.O.,  T.71,  1556,  claim  633). 
S.  W.  Gordon,  owner  in  fee,  parish  of  St.  Matthew, 
had  six  slaves.  A  counter  claim  for  a  mortgage 
and  judgment  of  £6000  was  entered  by  John 
Frederick  Pinney  and  Somerset  Earle  (P.R.O., 
T.71,  1566,  claim  833). 

HAYTI. 

This  island,  discovered  by  Columbus  in  1492,  was 
formerly  known  as  Hispaniola  and  then  as  St. 
Domingo.  It  was  renounced  by  Spain  in  1865,  and 
is  now  a  Republic  so  far  as  10,204  square  miles  of 
its  total  of  28,249  are  concerned. 

Charles  Gordon  was  vice-consul  at  its  capital, 
Port  au  Prince.  He  died  Aug.  29,  1826,  having 
"gained  the  respect  and  confidence  of  the  British 
residents  in  Hayti."  He  left  a  widow  and  an 
infant  daughter  ("Gentleman's  Magazine,"  vol.  96, 
pt.  2,  p.  477). 

BRITISH  HONDURAS. 

Although,  like  Guiana,  on  the  South  American 
mainland,  this  colony  may  conveniently  be  included 
in  the  West  Indian  category.  Discovered  by 
Columbus  in  1502,  it  was  settled  by  the  English 
from  Jamaica  in  1667.  They  were  often  disturbed 
by  the  Spaniards,  and  sometimes  expelled,  till 
1783.     It  covers  8600  square  miles. 

Amelia  Gordon,  North  Belsize,  got  £433  18s  7d 
compensation  for  eight  slaves,  Oct.  5,  1835  (P.R.O., 
T.71,  1559,  claim  67). 

Grace  Gordon,  South  Belsize,  got  £225  16s  lid 
compensation  for  five  slaves,  Oct.  5,  1835  (P.R.O., 
T.71,   1559,   claim  239). 

Jane  Gordon,  North  Belsize,  got  £249  14s  8d 
compensation  for  four  slaves,  Oct.  5,  1835  (P.R.O., 
T.71,  1559,  claim  130).     As  guardian  for  Anne  Eliza- 

20 


beth  Codd,  a  minor,  she  got  £145  5s  Id  for  four 
slaves  (Ibid.,  claim  127). 

John  Gordon,  South  Belsize,  got  £65  12s  4d 
compensation  for  one  slave,  Oct.  5,  1835  (Ibid., 
claim  5). 

Patricia.  Gordon,  North  Belsize,  got  £262  7s  6d 
compensation  for  six  slaves,  Oct.  5,  1835  (Ibid., 
claim  128). 

Susannah  Gordon,  North  Belsize,  got  £36  10s  7d 
compensation  for  one  slave,  Oct.  5,  1835  (Ibid., 
claim  18). 

JAMAICA. 

Jamaica  is  the  largest  of  all  the  West  Indies, 
covering  4200  square  miles,  which  is  more  than 
six  and  a  half  times  the  size  of  Banffshire.  It  was 
discovered  by  Columbus  on  May  3,  1494,  and  we 
took  it  from  the  Spaniards  on  May  3,  1655. 

It  attracted  by  far  the  greatest  number  of 
Gordons,  and  one  of  these,  G.  W.  Gordon,  a 
coloured  member  of  the  Legislature,  created  in- 
directly something  approaching  a  revolution,  for 
his  execution  at  the  hands  of  Governor  Eyre  on 
Oct.  23,  1865,  on  the  charge  of  encouraging  the 
negroes  to  revolt  resulted  in  a  tremendous  dispute 
at  home  during  the  years  1865-69. 

Many  of  the  best  families  of  Gordons  sent  their 
younger  sons  to  Jamaica,  as  the  names  of  many 
estates  shows  us,  such  as  Braco,  Earlstoun,  and 
Ancheudolly.  But  several  of  the  Gordons  in  the 
colony  were  deported  there  on  conviction.  The 
following  list  is  admittedly  not  complete,  but  it 
covers  a  fair  area : — 

Dr  Gordon,  Jamaica.     His  daughter,  Matty 

Gordon,  was  married  "on  Tuesday"  to  Dr  David 
Ogilvie,  Navy  surgeon  ("Aberdeen  Journal,"  Dec. 
30,  1766).     This  may  be  Dr  John  Gordon  (q.  v.). 

Adam  G.  Gordon,  St.  John,  as  executor  of  John 
Bannie,  Retirement  plantation,  got  £138  7s  4d 
compensation  for  six  slaves,  January  30,  1836 : 
£700  5s  6d  for  31  slaves ;  £235  for  nine  slaves ; 
£240  for  10  slaves,  all  on  the  same  plantation  and 
same  date  (T.71,  1535,  claims  74,  75,  76,  77). 

Agnes  Gordon,  St  Mary,  got  £19  10s  lOd  com- 
pensation for  one  slave,  Dec.  14,  1835  (T.71,  1537, 
claim  384). 

Alexander  Gordon,  will  recorded  1741  (Book  23 : 
Island   Records). 

Alexander  Gordon,  will  recorded  1748  (Book  27 : 
Island   Records). 

Alexander  Gordon,  will  recorded  1743  (Book  24: 
Island  Records). 

21 


Alexander  Gordon,  M.A.,  Kingston.  In  1760  a 
private  Act  was  passed  for  enabling  him  to  carry  into 
execution  his  projected  improvement  of  water  mills 
for  grinding  sugar  cane  (Furtado's  "List  of  Jamaica 
People"). 

Alexander  and  Mary  (or  Margaret)  Gordon  had — 

1.  Joseph    Gordon,    born    October    26,    1769,    and 

baptised  April  18,  1771,  in  St  Anne's  parish. 

2.  Elizabeth    Grant    Gordon,    born    October    11, 

1766,    and    baptised    April   18,    1771,    in    St 
Anne's  parish. 
Alexander  Gordon  had — 

1.  Margaret   Gordon,   born   August   20,   and   bap- 

tised October  15,  1775,  in  St  Anne's  parish. 

2.  Rachel  Gordon,  born  September  11,  1773,  and 

baptised    October    15,    1775,    in    St    Anne's 
parish. 

Alexander  Gordon,  '"deceased,"  had  John  Syms 
Gordon,  born  March  18,  1784,  and  baptised  June 
13,  1781,  in  St  Anne's  parish. 

Alexander  Gordon,  planter,  late  of  Jamaica ;  will, 
November  17,  1783  (Edinburgh  Commissariot). 

Alexander  Gordon,  formerly  of  Jamaica,  died  at 
Aberdeen,  Feb.  17,  1816  (''Aberdeen  Journal"). 

Alexander  K.  Gordon,  Lemon  Hall,  St  John,  got 
£29  3s  Id  compensation  for  one  slave,  Nov.  23, 
1835  (T.71,  1535,  claim  231). 

Alexie  W.  Gordon ;  see  Margaret  S.  Gordon. 

Ann  Carr  Gordon  put  in  a  claim  on  the  estate 
of  the  late  William  Fairclough,  Dumfries  estate, 
St  James's,  for  198  slaves,  as  judgment  creditor, 
April  22,  1824,  for  £4445.  On  Dec.  3,  1836,  she 
gave  notice  of  a  suit  in  the  Court  of  Chancery  in 
Jamaica  (T.71,  1554,  claims  403,  875). 

Arthur  Gordon,  parish  of  St  James's,  Cornwall 
County,  left  all  his  estate  to  Arthur  Mantach,  in 
trust  for  certain  purposes.  Arthur's  sister,  Helen 
Gordon,  married  John  Hossack,  innkeeper,  Focha- 
bers, whose  daughter  married  John  Mantach  (1743- 
1818).  Those  Gordons  may  have  been  connected 
with  the  Gordons  of  Fifth  Part,  Dundurcus,  for 
Mr  J.  Mantach  Grant,  36  Castle  Street,  Edinburgh, 
tells  me  he  has  found  the  above  facts  among  his 
family  papers.  His  grandfather,  Peter  Mantach, 
died  in  1858,  aged  72. 

Catherine  Gordon,  widow,  as  devisee  and  execu- 
trix of  Henrietta  Simcocks,  got  £140  compensation 
for  seven  slaves  on  Dunaa  Pen,  St  Andrew's  parish 
(T.71,  1546,  claim  508),  and  £115  for  four  slaves 
owned  by  Henrietta  Simcocks  at  Port  Royal,  Jan. 

22 


3i,  1835  (T.71,  1543,  claim  197).  She  put  in  a 
counter  claim  to  the  claim  of  Henrietta  Simcocks, 
Spanish  Town,  St  Catherine's,  for  19  slaves,  Aug. 
31,  1835.  William  Gordon,  like  Catherine,  was  also 
an  executor  of  Henrietta  Simcocks's  will  (T.71, 
1533,   claim  65). 

Catherine  Gordon,  as  wife  of  John  Gordon, 
claimed,  under  a  marriage  settlement,  £4000,  on 
Sept.  18,  1835,  on  the  estate  of  Oliver  Herring,  Paul 
Island,  Westmoreland  (154  slaves).  George  Gordon 
and  James  Gordon  claimed,  as  judgment  creditors, 
in  June,  1824,  for  £3461  (T.71,  1552,  claim  223). 
John  Gordon,  on  behalf  of  Catherine,  his  wife, 
claimed  by  virtue  of  a  bond  of  Aug.  4,  1787,  £2116 ; 
but  on  Nov.  30,  1830,  he  withdrew  all  claims  except 
for  124  slaves,  owned  by  Oliver  Herring  (95),  Mrs 
Margaret  Herring  (15),  and  Mrs  C.  Gordon  (54). 
John  Gordon  and  Catherine  Gordon  stated,  Dec.  9, 
1835,  that  the  counter  claims  were  made  by  George 
Gordon  and  James  Gordon  on  their  behalf,  so 
that  they  withdrew  them  (T.71,  1552,  claims  223, 
782,   783). 

Charles  Gordon,  1737,  will  proved  that  year  is 
preserved  in  Book  21,  in  the  office  of  the  Island 
Secretary. 

Charles  Gordon,  merchant,  Jamaica.  "By  let- 
ters" from  the  island  his  death  is  announced  in 
the  "Aberdeen  Journal,"  Oct.  28,  1755.  He  may 
be  the  Charles  Gordon  whose  will  was  recorded  in 
the  Island  records,  Aug.  7,  1755,  who  had  a  brother 
John  in  Edinburgh,  another  brother  Thomas  in 
Aberdeen,  and  the  following  sisters  in  Aberdeen — 
Jane,  Susanna,  Elizabeth,  and  Mary.' 

Charles  Gordon,  junr.,  was  one  of  the  magis- 
trates of  Trelawny  parish,  Cornwall  County,  1783 
(Douglas  and  Aikman's  'Almanack  and  Register 
for  Jamaica,"  1783,  p.  75). 

Charles  Gordon,  owner  in  right  of  his  wife,  in  St 
Catherine,  Spanish  Town,  got  £29  3s  Id  compensa- 
tion for  one  slave,  1835  (T.71,  1533,  claim  506). 

Charles  Gordon,  Tamarind  Grove,  St  Catherine, 
got  £530  5s  3d  compensation  for  31  slaves  (T.71, 
1533,  claim  508).  As  legatee  he  put  in  a  claim  for 
£360  for  28  slaves,  but  Henry  Lord  Garrigues, 
William  Lambert,  Bartholomew  Ibbott  Williams, 
James  Lee  Brodbelt,  Thomas  Lee  Brodbelt,  Eliza 
Lee  Brodbelt,  Margaret  Clare,  Eliza  Clare,  and 
John  Gale  Vidal,  put  in  counter  claims  (T.71,  1533, 
claim  508).  Charles  Gordon,  with  the  Claires  and 
Vidals,  put  in  a  counter  claim,  as  judgment  credi- 
23 


tor,  on  the  claim  of  William  Page  Clark,  Wellington 
Park,  St  Catherine's  (T.71,  1533,  claim  161). 

Charles  Gordon  (perhaps  the  same  as  the  last 
mentioned),  as  judgment  creditor,  in  Feb.,  1816, 
for  £1000,  put  in  a  counter  claim,  Aug.  14,  1835, 
for  the  19  slaves  of  John  Thomas  Bell,  Fairfield, 
St  Dorothy  (T.71,  1535,  claims  87  and  320). 

Charles  Gordon,  Coppen,  St  Catherine,  got  £231 
Is  9d  for  12  slaves,  June  13,  1836.  Counter  claims 
by  Henry  Lord  Garrigues,  Margaret  Clare,  Eliza 
Clare,  and  John  Gale  Vidal,  as  judgment  creditors, 
were  withdrawn  (T.71,  1533,  claim  505).  He  may 
be  the  same  as  Charles  of  Tamarind  Grove. 

Charles  Gordon,  residing  in  England,  got  £4476 
4s  lid  compensation  for  221  slaves  on  the  Braco 
estate,  Trelawny  (T.71,  1555,  claim  23);  £1171  for 
98  slaves  on  the  Williamsfield  Pen,  Trelawney,  Oct. 
19,  1835  (Ibid,  claim  24);  and  £1931  7s  4d  for  84 
slaves  in  Richmond  Pen,  St  Anne's,  Feb.  1,  1836 
(T.71  ,1538,  claim  583).  He  was  the  son  or  grandson 
of  William  Gordon  (son  of  Elizabeth  Gordon  of 
Braco,  in  the  parish  of  Grange,  wife  of  Mr  William 
Gordon,  Mill  of  Avochie),  who  emigrated  to 
Jamaica.  Charles  had  at  least  one  son,  Charles, 
who  lived  at  Great  Berkhampstead,  Herts.,  who 
died  in  1829,  and  whose  son,  Charles  (1784-1839), 
bought  Newtimber  Place,  Sussex,  still  held  by  the 
family. 

Charlotte  Gordon,  Mountain  Spring,  St  Andrew's 
parish,  got  £286  compensation  for  12  slaves,  Jany. 
12,  1836  (T.71,  1546,  claim  443). 

Cosmo  Gordon,  was  the  son  of  James  Gordon  of 
Beldorney  (died  1740),  and  went  to  Jamaica.  Cosmo 
married  a  Jamaican,  Miss  Campbell,  and  had  a 
large  family,  including  Robert  Gordon,  who  mar- 
ried Letitia  Rudyerd ;  and  had  Robert  Henry  John 
Huntly  Gordon  (1797-1878),  an  officer  in  the  army, 
who  married  a  Glenlivet  woman,  Helen  Macgregor 
(said  to  have  been  a  lady's  maid).  His  son,  by 
another  lady,  is  Mr  Charles  Edward  Gordon,  living 
at  Wrangell,  Alaska,  who  has  recently  been  claim- 
ing to  be  "the  rightful  heir  to  the  Huntly  Gordon 
estates  of  Aberdeen,  and  also  the  Field  House, 
Whitby  estate,  Yorkshire."  Charles  Edward  is 
married  to  an  Eskimo  lady. 

David  Gordon,  lieutenant,  79th  Foot,  and  his 
wife,  Rebecca,  had  a  son,  James,  born  Jany.  17, 
and  baptised  March  21,  1781,  in  St  Mary's  parish, 
Kingston.  David  died  in  Jamaica,  Dec.  6,  1781, 
aged  37.  His  widow  was  receiving  a  pension  till 
1811, 

24 


Eliza  Gordon,  executrix  of  Amelia  Bell,  Prospect 
Farm,  got  £266  lis  lid  compensation  for  31  slaves, 
Sept.  26,  1836  (T.71,  1537,  claim  300). 

Elizabeth  Gordon,  Prospect,  St  Mary's,  probably 
the  same  as  Eliza,  got  £64  4s  3d  for  four  slaves: 
Dec.  14,  1835.  It  was  amended,  June  25,  1836,  n 
favour  of  William  Villiers  Amiel  and  Elizabeth 
Amiel  (T.71,  1537,  claim  308).  On  March  20,  1837, 
Amiel  and  his  wife,  Elizabeth,  got  £306  compensa- 
tion (Ibid.,  claim  309). 

Eliza  Gordon,  "a  native  of  Jamaica,"  died  March 
4,  1810,  aged  17,  and  a  stone  was  erected  to  her 
memory  in  Greyfriars,  Edinburgh,  by  "her  friend 
and  afflicted  parents"  (James  Brown's  "Greyfriars 
Epitaphs,"   p.   268). 

Eliza  Bendon  Gordon,  Kingston,  owner  in  fee, 
got  £134  3s  4d  compensation  for  seven  slaves,  Feb. 
29,  1836  (T.71,  1542,  claim  796). 

Elizabeth  Gordon,  owner  in  fee,  Gordon  Castle, 
St  Mary,  got  £28  3s  8d  compensation  for  13  slaves, 
Sept.  28,  1835  (T.71,  1537,  claim  50). 

Ellen  Gordon  died  June  8,  1839,  aged  72  (stone 
in  the  Ebenezer  Burial  Ground,  Kingston,  quoted 
in  "Notes  and  Queries,"  Sept.  30,  1905). 

Florence  Gordon,  owner  in  fee,  Charlestown,  St 
George,  got  £26  12s  2d  compensation  for  one  slave, 
Nov.  9,  1835  (T.71,  1550,  claim  150). 

Frances  Gordon  (Mrs),  died  Oct.  30,  1836,  in 
Jamaica,  aged  84.  She  was  the  mother  of  William 
Whitehorne  of  Laurence  Park,  Jamaica  ("Gentle- 
man's Magazine,"  vol.  7,  N.S.,  p.  447). 

Francis  and  John  Gordon,  joint  owners  in  fee 
of  Golden  River,  St  Thomas-in-Vale,  had  100  slaves, 
for  whom  they  got  £1967  compensation,  July  28, 
1836.  A  counter  claim  was  raised,  Aug.  14,  1835, 
by  Sir  John  Gordon,  Bart.,  as  mortgage  for  £4700, 
but  was  withdrawn,  Feb.  1,  1836,  by  Sir  John's 
attorney,  H.  Lowndes  (T.71,  1536,  claim  226).  This 
Sir  John  was  apparently  the  fifth  baronet  of  Earls- 
toun,  Kirkcudbright   (q.  v.). 

George  Gordon  and  George  Gordon,  jun.,  were 
among  "the  list  of  His  Majesty's  subjects  and 
slaves,"  transported  in  H.M.S.  Hercules  from  Suri- 
nam to  Jamaica  , September,  1675;  George  Gordon, 
sen.,  was  in  debt,  1676  (Calendar  or  State  Docu- 
ments— America  and  the  West  Indies,  P.R.O.). 

George  and  Elizabeth  Gordon  had  Elizabeth, 
baptised  April  16,  1680,  in  St  Catherine's  parish. 

George  and  Sarah  Gordon  had  a  son  Thomas, 
baptised  Aug.  28,  1683,  in  St  Catherine's  parish, 

25 


George  Gourdon,  will  registered  1683  (Book  4: 
Island  Secretary's  office). 

George  Gordon,  will  registered  1741  (Book  23 : 
Ibid.). 

George  Gordon  from  Aberdeen  had  a  daughter, 
Mary,   1757. 

George  and  Rebecca  Gordon,  at  Wheelerfield, 
had  Thomas  Gordon,  born  April  19,  and  baptised 
October  2,  1757,  St  George's  parish. 

George  Gordon,  surgeon,  Hanover  parish.  He 
married  Elizabeth  Denham.  His  will  was  proved 
December  13,  1781  (Edinburgh  Commissariot).  His 
wife  was  served  heir  to  her  brother,  David  Denham, 
writer,  Edinburgh.     They  had  a  daughter — 

Elizabeth  Gordon,  who  was  served  heir  to 
her  and  Captain  Gordon  of  Auchannachy,  Aug. 
15,  1782,  and  to  her  uncle,  John,  of  Auchan- 
nachy, August  15,  1782. 

George  Gordon  took  a  lease  of  some  property  in 
Jamaica,  1781.  He  was  the  second  son  of  Robert 
Gordon  of  Pronsey  and  the  brother  of  Dr  John 
Gordon  (q.  v.),  to  whom,  on  his  death  in  Jamaica, 
he  left  his  fortune. 

George  Gordon  was  the  representative  in  1835 
of  John  Tarrett,  deceased,  on  the  estate  of  Amity 
Hall  Settlement,  St  James,  and  «f  Catherine  Hall 
(T.71,  1554,  claims  535,  536).  He  was  also  executor 
to  the  late  mortgagees  on  the  estate  of  John  Cleg- 
horn,  Grange  Pen,  St  James's  (T.71,  1554,  claim 
665). 

George  Gordon,  owner  in  fee,  Port  Maria,  St 
Mary,  got  £110  19s  compensation  for  six  slaves, 
Feb.  1,  1836  (T.71,  1537,  claim  516). 

George  Gordon,  owner  in  fee,  Moor  Park,  St 
James's,  got  £3526  3s  9d  compensation  for  178 
slaves,  Nov.  16,  1836  (T.71,  1554,   claim  181). 

George  Gordon,  as  receiver  in  the  cause  of  Gray 
v.  Hinde  and  others,  put  in  a  claim  for  93  slaves 
at  the  Industry  Estate  (T.71,  1554,  claim  166).  As 
an  executor  of  Charles  Gordon  Gray,  jun.,  Industry 
Estate,  St  James's,  he  got  £326  compensation  for 
15  slaves,  April  4,  1836.  Janet  Gray  put  in  a 
counter  claim  as  annuitant  of  £300  by  agreement 
in  satisfaction  of  her  dower,  for  arrears  since  1831, 
claiming  £1051,  but  she  withdrew  this,  Feb.  22, 
1836  (T.71,  1554,  claim  165). 

George  Gordon,  Marley  Mount,  St  Dorothy,  got 
£78  3s  5d  compensation  for  four  slaves,  Oct.  26, 
1835  (T.71,  1534,  claim  117). 

George  William  Gordon,  "the  Jamaica  Martyr," 
was  a  man  of  colour.     His  origin  is  doubtful.     His 

26 


father  is  said  to  have  been  William  Gordon  from 
Morayshire.  Others  give  him  a  Joseph  Gordon, 
probably  the  Joseph  who  belonged  to  the  Carroll 
family  in  Sutherland.  He  was  born  as  a  slave  to 
the  Cherry  Garden  Estate,  in  St  Andrew's  parish, 
of  which  his  father,  Joseph,  was  overseer.  His 
mother,  with  her  sisters,  were  slaves  on  this  estate. 
When  the  father  became  attorney  for  the  estate,  he 
freed  his  children  and  their  mother  and  had  given 
them  all  a  good  education.  George  started  in 
business  as  a  merchant,  and  became  quite  a  rich 
man.  In  Oct.,  1846,  he  married,  and  soon  after 
this  his  father's  affairs  became  involved  and  the 
father  came  home.  The  negro  riot  broke  out  at 
Morant  Bay,  in  the  parish  of  Jamaica,  on  Oct.  11, 
1865.  The  volunteers  were  called  to  suppress  it, 
the  result  being  that  seven  were  killed  and  25 
wounded.  Of  the  civilians  present,  11  were  killed 
and  six  wounded.  In  all,  about  25  persons  were 
killed  and  about  35  wounded.  Five  houses  were 
burned  and  20  stores  looted.  Then  the  Governor, 
Edward  John  Eyre  (1815-1901),  who  curiously  enough 
had  married  a  Gordon,  namely,  Ada  Austen,  daughter 
of  Alexander  Hamilton  Miller  Gordon  of  Florida 
Manor  and  Delamont,  County  Pown,  decided  on 
the  Botha-strong-man  act,  proclaimed  martial  law 
(Oct.  13),  and  hanged  Gordon  summarily.  No 
fewer  than  439  of  the  rioters  were  put  to  death, 
600  were  flogged,  and  over  1000  houses  were  burned. 
All  Britain  was  roused.  Eyre  was  recalled  and 
tried.  Kingsley,  Carlyle,  Ruskin,  and  Tennyson 
supported  him.  J.  S.  Mill,  Huxley,  Tom  Hughes, 
Herbert  Spencer,  and  Goldwin  Smith  denounced 
Eyre.  The  latter  was  brought  to  trial,  but  the 
grand  juries  threw  out  the  bills.  Eyre's  legal 
expenses  were  paid  from  the  public  funds  in  1872, 
and  he  received  a  pension  as  a  retired  Colonial 
governor  in  1874.  When  he  died  in  1901  most 
people  had  forgotten  all  about  him.  A  big  litera- 
ture arose  out  of  the  whole  affair,  of  which  the 
following  are   samples  : — 

"A  Sketch  of  the  late  Mr  G.  W.  Gordon, 
Jamaica."  By  the  Rev.  David  King,  LL.D.,  London 
(Edinburgh:  William  Oliphant  &  Co.),  1866:  8vo., 
pp.  16. 

"The  Case  of  George  William  Gordon,  with  pre- 
liminary observations  on  the  Jamaica  plot  of  Oct. 
11,  1865."'  By  B.  T.  Williams,  M.A.,  baxrister-at- 
law   (London:   Butterworth),   1866:  8vo.,  59  pp. 

"Personal  Recollections  of  the  Hon.  George  W. 
Gordon,  late  of  Jamaica,"  (London),  1867. 

27 


"The  History  of  the  Jamaica  Case;  being  an 
account  founded  upon  official  documents  of  the 
Rebellion  of  the  Negroes  in  Jamaica :  the  causes 
which  led  to  it,  and  the  measures  taken  for  its 
suppression ;  the  agitation  excited  on  the  subject, 
its  causes  and  its  character ;  and  the  debates  in 
Parliament,  and  the  Criminal  Prosecutions  arising 
out  of  it."  By  W.  F.  Finlason  [1818-95],  barrister- 
at-law  (London :  Chapman  &  Hall) ;  2nd  edition, 
1869;  8vo.,  pp.  xcvi.,  691. 

I  believe  Gordon's  widow  came  to  England  and 
died  at  Watford.  A  photograph  of  Gordon,  taken 
by  Duberley  Brothers,  Kingston,  Jamaica,  shows 
him  as  a  strong-faced  intelligent  man  with  spec- 
tacles, but  does  not  betray  negroed  features. 

Harry  Gordon  married  Anne  Taafe,  the  daughter 
of  the  Rev.  Arthur  Taafe,  of  Jamaica,  and  the 
grand-daughter  of  Christopher  Taafe  of  Mansfield- 
town,  Co.  Louth,  who  was  attained  in  1691,  and 
went  to  Jamaica.  His  son  was  Lieut. -Colonel 
Harry  Gordon,  who  married  Rachael  Lawrence  of 
Jamaica,  and  had  two  sons  (died  without  issue) 
and  four  daughters  ("Notes  and  Queries").  A 
James  Gordon  of  1766  had  a  brother  Harry  in 
H.M.  service. 

James  Gordon,  "late  of  Jamaica,"  died  at  Dum- 
fries, January  23,  1794  ("Scots  Magazine"). 

James  Gordon.  His  daughter,  Miss  Gordon,  was 
married  in  1802,  at  Earlston,  Jamaica,  to  George 
Innes,  the  father  then  being  dead  ("Scots  Maga- 
zine"). 

James  Gordon  and  Robert  William  Gordon,  St 
James's,  as  executors  for  John  Edward  Payne, 
Middlesex  Pen,  Hanover,  got  £2255  compensation 
for  111  slaves,  Jany.  25,  1836  (T.71,  1553,  claim 
419) ;  and  £123  for  Payne's  eight  slaves  at  Wood- 
lands, St  James's,  Nov.  16,  1835  (T.71,  1554,  claim 
150). 

James  Gordon,  Montego  Bay,  got  £98  10s  3d 
as  compensation  for  four  slaves,  April  11,  1836, 
William  Banks,  New  York,  withdrawing  a  counter 
claim  as  judgment  creditor  for  £6291  with  interest 
(T.71,  1554,  claim  60).  James  and  Robert  Gordon, 
Montego  Bay,  got  £396  19s  6d  compensation  for  13 
slaves,  April  11,  1836,  Banks  again  withdrawing  a 
counter  claim  as  judgment  creditor  for  the  £6291 
(T.71,  1554,  claim  86). 

James  Gordon,  Jamaica,  married  Christian, 
daughter  of  James  Scarlett  of  that  island,  and 
died  in  1794.     He  was  the  ninth  and  youngest  son 

28 


of  Sir  Thomas  Gordon  of  Earlstoun,  Kirkcudbright, 
and  brother  of  Sir  John,  5th  baronet  (q.  v.). 

James  Alexander  Gordon  died  in  Jamaica,  1757. 

Jane  Gordon,  owner  in  fee,  Prospect,  St  Mary, 
got  £89  16s  8d  compensation  for  six  slaves,  Jany. 
11,  1836  (T.71.  1537,   claim  459). 

Jane  Gordon,  owner  in  fee,  Font  Hill,  St  An- 
drew, got  £39  compensation  for  two  slaves,  Dec. 
21,  1835  (T.71,  1546,  claim  319). 

John  Gordon,  will  registered  1737  (Book  21 : 
Island  Secretary's  Office). 

John  and  Elizabeth  Gordon  had  the  following 
children : — 

1.  John    Gordon,    born    and    baptised   September 

21,   1761. 

2.  Mary    Gordon,    born   July   26,   1756,    and   bap- 

tised July  31,  1762,  both  baptisms  taking 
place   in  St   Mary's   parish,   Kingston. 

John  and  Elizabeth  Gordon  had  Sarah,  born  Oct. 
31,  1769,  and  baptised  March  29,  1770,  in  St  Anne's 
parish. 

John  and  Elizabeth  Gordon  had  Susan,  bora 
August  2,  1772,  and  baptised  March  1,  1774,  in 
St   Anne's   parish. 

Dr  John  Gordon  (1728-1774)  helped  to  quell  a 
rebellion  of  negroes  in  the  parish  of  St  Mary,  April 
8,  1760,  as  recorded  on  his  tombstone  in  St  Peter's, 
Dorchester,  where  he  died,  Oct.  4,  1774.  He  was 
the  son  of  Robert  Gordon,  of  Pronsy,  and  grand- 
son of  Sir  Robert  Gordon,  2nd  bart.  of  Embo,  and 
he  had  a  son,  Robert  Home  Gordon  (q.  v.). 

John  Gordon,  of  Portland  parish,  county  of 
Surrey,  was  served  heir  to  his  father,  George, 
merchant  in  Aberdeen,  June  18,  1772. 

John  Gordon,  one  of  the  representatives  in 
Assembly   from  St  Anne's  parish,   died  1776.   , 

John  and  Anne  Gordon  had  Francis  Leslie  Gor- 
don, born  July  26,  and  baptised  May  29,  1782,  in 
St  Mary  parish,  Kingston. 

John  Gordon  had  the  following  children  :— 

1.  John  Gordon,  born  January  2,  1789,  and  bap- 

tised August  11,  1797,  in  St  Anne's  parish. 

2.  Patrick  Dunbar  Gordon,   born  April  16,   1791, 

and  baptised  August  11,  1797,  in  St  Anne's 
parish. 

3.  Jean  Gordon,  born  April,  1794. 

John  and  Jean  Gordon  had  Mary  M'Donald 
Gordon,  born  Jany.  2,  1797,  and  baptised  August 
15,  1798,  in  St  Anne's  parish. 

29 


John  Gordon,  Bertram's  Bower,  St  Anne's.  At 
his  house  his  sister,  Mrs  Sharpe,  widow  of  Alex- 
ander Sharpe  (sometime  of  Jamaica),  died  Sept.  20, 
1820  ("Scots  Magazine"). 

John  Gordon,  M.D.,  died  on  December  1,  1825, 
at  Kingston,  "where  he  had  resided  more  than  40 
years.''  He  was  "a  native  of  Aberdeenshire,"  and 
was  aged  70  ("Scots  Magazine''). 

Sir  John  Gordon,  of  Earlstoun,  Montego  Bay, 
5th  baronet  of  Earlstoun,  Kirkcudbright  (1780-1843). 
He  was  living  in  Jamaica  in  1811,  but  having  in 
1816  succeeded  to  the  estate  of  Carleton,  Scotland, 
possessed  by  his  kinsman,  John  Gordon,  he  returned 
to  Scotland.  As  owner  in  fee  of  Carleton,  St 
James's,  Jamaica,  he  got  £3316  compensation  for 
164  slaves,  Jany.  25,  1835,  and  on  Feb.  22,  1836,  he 
got  £473  for  26  slaves,  claimed  by  him  as  guardian 
to  the  heirs  of  Amey  Brown,  Carleton.  He  made 
the  claim  as  executor  for  his  sister  (T.71,  1544, 
claims  429,  430).  See  also  Francis  and  John  Gordon, 
supra. 

John  Gordon,  absentee,  owner  in  fee  of  the 
Campbelton  estate,  Hanover,  got  £3181  compensa- 
tion for  162  slaves,  Jany.  25,  1836.  A  counter  claim 
by  George  Gibbs  and  Robert  Bright  as  mortgagees, 
Aug.  12,  1817,  for  £3553,  with  interest,  was  with- 
drawn, Feb.  18,  1836  (T.71,  1553,  claim  189). 

John  Gordon,  absentee,  owner  in  fee,  Glasgow 
estate,  St  James's,  had  174  slaves.  He  died,  and 
a  sum  of  £3181  was  awarded  to  his  executors,  Maria 
Gordon  and  George  Gordon,  Nov.  16,  1855  (T.71, 
claim  170). 

John  Gordon  claimed  through  George  Gordon,  as 
mortgagee,  March  26,  1793,  for  £24,064  10s  and 
£5967,  on  judgment  of  June,  1795.  He  got  £457 
18s  8d  compensation  for  28  slaves  owned  by  Peter 
Anderson,  Portland  parish  (T.71,  1549,  claim  16). 

John  Gordon,  Scotland,  was  a  mortgagee,  May 
31,  1817,  on  the  estate  of  the  heirs  of  Raynes  B. 
Warb,  Blue  Hole  estate,  St  James's,  142  slaves 
(T.71,    1554,    claim   186). 

John  Gordon  was  mortgagee  on  the  estate  of 
Gilbert  Sinclair.  Cross  estate,  St  Catherine,  and 
his  executor  put  in  a  claim  for  £6785  on  Sinclair's 
197  slaves,  Aug.  14,  1835.  But  Sinclair  himself  was 
awarded  £356  19s  Id  on  April  4,  1836,  Gordon's 
executor,  William  Rae,  withdrawing  the  counter 
claim  (T.71,  1533,  claim  674). 

John  Gordon  claimed  as  judgment  creditor,  Jiine 
1,  1832,  for  £1333  on  the  estate  of  Francis  Samuel 
Corral,  St  Andrew,  (14  slaves).  But  Corral  himself 
30 


got  £164  on   Aug.   3,   1840   (T.71,   1546,   claims  561, 
635). 

John  Gordon,  together  with  James  Fyffe,  Neil 
Malcolm,  Charles  Sterling,  William  Sterling,  and 
Charles  Sterling,  junr.,  "of  Scotland,''  by  their 
attorney,  George  Gordon,  put  in  (1835)  a  counter 
claim  on  97  slaves  belonging  to  A.  Hamilton  Brown, 
St  Anne's,  as  assignees  of  certain  bonds  given  for 
the  purchase  money  of  these  slaves,  and  also  as 
being  entitled  to  the  legal  estate  by  a  certain 
deed,  whereby  all  parties  interested  had  agreed  to 
transfer  the  compensation  to  them  (T.71,  1538, 
claim  650).  The  same  six  persons  held  mortgages 
to  the  extent  of  £6655  on  187  slaves,  belonging  to 
John  Haughton  and  James  Burnet,  Ground  Pen, 
Hanover  (T.71,  1553,  claim  19,  511).  John  Gordon, 
Charles  Sterling,  and  James  Fyffe  held  another 
mortgage  of  £9699,  dated  1820. 

Joseph  Gordon,  of  Navidale,  Sutherland,  made 
a  fortune  in  Jamaica.  He  was  a  younger  son  of 
Hugh  Gordon  of  Carroll  (in  the  parish  of  Clyne, 
Sutherland),  who  represented  the  younger  branch 
of  the  Invergordon  Gordons.  Joseph  died  in  1800, 
and  left  his  property,  including  mortgages  affecting 
many  lands,  negroes,  and  other  property  in  the 
island  of  Jamaica  to  his  brother  John,  of  Carroll, 
and  the  latter's  son,  Joseph,  last  of  Ca<rroll  (died 
1855),  who  was  a  Writer  to  the  Signet.  This  latter 
Joseph  may  be  the  same  as  one,  if  not  all,  of  the 
following  Josephs  in  Jamaica : — 

Joseph  Gordon,  owner  in  fee,  Delacree  Pen,  St 
Andrews,  got  £1383  compensation  for  74  slaves, 
Oct.  5,  1835  (T.71  ,1546,  claim  44);  £478  for  24 
slaves  on  Shortwood  and  Barbican,  Sept.  19,  1836 
(Ibid.,  claim  45) ;  £3564,  as  executor,  under  the 
will  of  Benjamin  Mariott  Perk,  Shortwood,  for 
172  slaves  (Ibid.,  claim  51).  He  claimed,  as  co- 
executor  of  Francis  Clark,  Spring,  for  97  slaves 
(Ibid.,  claim  55),  and  got  £458  as  owner  of  23 
slaves  at  Spring  (Ibid.,  claim  56). 

Joseph  Gordon,  owner,  Old  England  estate,  St 
David's,  got  £2240  14s  4d  compensation  for  107 
slaves,  Oct.  31,  1836,  though  counter  claims,  as 
judgment  creditors,  were  put  in  by  John  Hall,  for 
£3060,  Feb.  1,  1816;  by  John  Atkins  and  John 
Pelly,  for  £3663,  Oct.,  1828;  and  by  Samuel  Foyster 
Yockney  and  William  Yockney,  for  £3347,  Feb.  1, 
1827  (T.71,  1547,  clcaim  3).  The  sum  of  £1099  with 
interest  and  accumulations  was  adjudged  to  the 
counter  claimants,  Nov.  30,  1840  (Ibid.,  claim  186). 
In  Gordon's  claim  as  owner  of  Mount  Faraway  and 

31 


Essex,  Port  Royal,  the  sum  of  £2358  was  adjudged 
to  Gordon,  Oct.  31,  1836,  though  the  same  counter 
claims  were  made  (T.71,  154-5,  claims  32  and  304). 

Joseph  Gordon  as  mortgagee,  Feb.  19,  1828,  for 
£1598,  entered,  and  then  w'thdrew,  a  claim  on  the 
estate  of  Sarah  Hagart,  Richmond  Castle,  St 
George's  (T.71  ,1550,  claim  314). 

Joseph  Gordon  extended  a  claim  on  the  estate 
of  Mary  Player  Smith,  Prospect  Hill,  St  Andrew, 
as  assignee  under  judgment  for  £618  (T.71,  1546, 
claim  146). 

Joseph  Gordon  was  creditor  on  judgment  of  Oct., 
1832,  for  £43  on  the  estate  of  Robert  P.  Clarke, 
executor  of  William  Clarke,  Mount  Sion,  St  Mary, 
and  put  in  a  claim  for  the  same,  Aug.,  1835  (T.71, 
1537,  claim  87). 

Joseph  Gordon,  as  creditor  on  bond  and  judgment 
for  £4453,  put  in  a  counter  claim  on  the  estate  of 
Lawrence  Fyffe,  Albany  estate,  St  Mary,  Aug., 
1835  (T.71,  1537,  claim  145). 

Joseph  Gordon,  as  creditor  on  judgment  of  Feb., 
1825,  for  £291,  put  n  a  counter  claim,  Aug.,  1835, 
on  Henry  Cox,  senr.,  and  John  Harris,  Mason 
Hall,  St  Mary,  but  £391  was  paid  to  Elizabeth 
Macdonald  (T.71,   1537,   claim  293). 

Joseph  Gordon,  by  judgment  for  £151,  June, 
1832,  claimed  on  the  estate  of  Lydia  Baker,  trustee 
in  fee,  Bardowie,  St  Andrews,  in  the  matter  of  101 
slaves  (T.71,  1546,   claim  179). 

Joseph  Gordon  was  a  trustee  for  John  Smith, 
Salisbury  Plain,  St  Andrews,  1836,  in  the  matter 
of  157  slaves  (T.71,   1546,  claim  284). 

Joseph  Gordon,  as  executor  of  William  Davidson, 
entered  a  claim  ;n  1835  on  the  estate  of  George 
Davidson,  Redington  Pen,  and  Broadgate,  St 
George,  losing  it  on  a  judgment  of  Oct.,  1833  (T.71, 
1550,  claims  274,  276,  324). 

Joseph  Gordon  and  John  White  Carter,  as  re- 
ceivers at  Washington  and  Hibernia,  St  David's, 
claimed  for  57  and  182  slaves,  1836  (T.71,  1547, 
claims  134,  135,  and  191). 

Larchin  Gordon  was  assistant  judge  of  Common 
Pleas  and  of  the  Quorum  and  one  of  the  magis- 
trates of  Clarendor  parish,  Middlesex  county,  1783 
(Douglas  and  Aikman's  Almanack  and  Register  of 
Island  of  Jamaica  for  1783,  p.  69).  Larchin  Gordon, 
owner  in  fee,  Crescent,  St  Mary,  got  £48  13s  lid 
compensation  for  one  slave,  Dec.  14,  1835  (T.71, 
1537,  claim  375).  Larchin  Gordon,  senior,  as 
guardian  for  Sarah  Gordon,  Happy  Retreat,  St 
Elizabeth,  got  £26  12s  2d  for  one  slave,  March  7, 

32 


1836  (T.71,  1551,  claim  942),  and  as  guardian  for 
Catalina  A.  Gordon,  Happy  Retreat,  he  got  £12 
16s  2d  compensation  for  another  slave  (Ibid.,  claim 

944).     Larchin  Gordon  married  Elizabeth  ,  and 

had  the  following  children  in  Clarendon  parish : — 

1.  William  Gordon,  born  April  24,  1765. 

2.  Richard    Larchin    Gordon,    baptised    Sept.    20, 

1766.  He  is  apparently  the  Larchin  Gor- 
don, junior,  Happy  Retreat,  St  Elizabeth, 
who  got  £26  12s  2d  compensation  for  one 
slave,  March  7,  1836  (T.71,  1551,  claim  942), 
and  £313  for  14  slaves,  as  executrix  for 
John  Gordon,  Port  Royal,  Thomas  Douglas, 
legatee,  withdrawing  a  counter  claim  for 
£409  (Ibid.,  claim  943).  He  is  almost 
certainly  the  Richard  Gordon  who  was 
assistant  judge  of  the  Common  Pleas  and 
of  the  Quorum  and  a  magistrate  of  Claren- 
don, county  Middlesex,  1793  (Douglas  and 
Aikman's  Almanack  and  Register  for 
Jamaica,  1793,  p.  69). 

3.  Arthur  M'Kenzie   Gordon,   baptised  November 

21,   1765. 

4.  George  Alexander   Gordon,   baptised   April  19, 

1782. 

5.  Elizabeth   Barbary   Gordon,   baptised   May  13, 

1785.  Larchin  Gordon  had  a  daughter 
unnamed,  who  was  married  at  Spanish 
Town  to  William  Ramsay,  registrar  of  the 
High  Court  of  Jamaica  ("Scots  Magazine," 
September,   1789). 

6.  Susanna  Gordon,  baptised  December  11,  1784. 

7.  Mary    Alexandrina     Barbary     (or     Barberry) 

Gordon  withdrew  in  1837  a  counter  claim 
for  £310  on  the  40  slaves  of  James  William- 
son, Whitfield  Pen,  St  Andrews  (T.71,  1546, 
claim  484).  As  an  annuitant,  she  put  in  a 
counter  claim  to  the  claim  of  Edward 
Thomson,  sequestrator  in  the  case  of 
Nioxby  v.  Gordon,  on  Lemon  Hill,  St 
Dorothy.  The  judgment  creditors  were 
William  and  Donald  Finlayson,  John 
Nethersole,  Donald  Dingwall,  John  Rickett, 
and  Samuel  Richard  Herdsman  (T.71,  1535, 
claims  164,  165,  330).  She  herself  owned 
48  slaves  and  was  a  counter  claimant  to 
the  claim  of  two  slaves  belonging  to 
William  Halshead,  St  John's  (Ibid.  169).  An 
Alexandrina  Barberry  was  the  wife  of 
William  Gordon  in  1794. 

33 


Margaret  Gordon,  Tomarind  Grove,  St  Catherine 
got  £71  5s  3d  for  six  slaves,  Feb.  1,  1836  (T.71, 
1533,   claim  504). 

Margaret  S.  Gordon,  St  Anne's,  owner  in  fee, 
and  Alexie  W.  Gordon,  got  £340  compensation  for 
14  slaves,  Feb.  15,  1836  (T.71,  1538,  claim  597). 

Mary  Gordon,  was  a  coloured  woman  in  Hanover 
parish,  Sept.  7,  1788. 

Mary  Ann  Gordon,  Camperdown  Pen,  St  Andrews, 
got  £87  compensation  for  four  slaves,  Oct.  5,  1836 
(T.71,  1546,  claim  64). 

Mary  B.  Gordon,  Mint  estate,  Westmoreland,  got 
£66  compensation  for  three  slaves,  Dec.  7,  1836 
(T.71,  1552,  claim  250). 

.  Mary  Margaret  Gordon,  owner  in  fee,  Friendship, 
St  Mary,  got  £77  compensation  for  five  slaves, 
Jauy.  li,  1836  (T.71,  1537,  claim  404). 

Oliver  Herring  Gordon,  owner  in  fee,  Paisley 
estate,  St  James's,  got  £34  compensation  for  one 
slave,  Nov.  16,  1835  (T.71,  1554,  claim  182).  See 
also  Catherine  Gordon,  supra. 

Richard  Gordon  and  his  wife,  Mary,  had  a  son, 
Michael,  born  March  16,  baptised  Sept.  6,  1740  (in 
Kingston  parish). 

Robert   Gordon   married   Hannah  ,   and   had 

a  son,  William,  born  Dec.  3,  1739,  and  baptised 
Jany.  1,  1740,  at  Kingston. 

Robert  Gordon  married  Ann  Graham,  and  had 
a  son,  George,  baptised  July  17,  1769,  in  St 
Catherine's  parish. 

Robert  Gordon  was  a  coloured  man,  living  in 
Hanover  parish,  May  7,  1785. 

Robert  Gordon  married  Elizabeth  Ann  — ,  and 
had 

1.  Robert  Gordon,  baptised  at  Port  Royal,  Dec. 

28,   1788. 

2.  Edward  Gordon,  baptised  at  Port  Royal,  Dec. 

28,    1788. 

3.  George  Gordon,  baptised  at  Port  Royal,  Dec. 

28,    1788. 

Robert   Gordon   married  Sarah  ,   and  had   a 

daughter,  Mary  Ann,  baptised  Aug.  31,  1793,  in 
Kingston   parish. 

Robert  Gordon,  living  in  1768  in  Flanders,  be- 
queathed his  real  property  within  the  diocese  of 
Canterbury  and  also  in  Jamaica  to  his  brothers, 
John  and  William,  and  to  his  daughters,  Susanna 
and  Rebecca  (Archer's  "Jamaica  Monuments").  I 
think  he  was  one  of  the  Hallhead  Gordons,  who 
were   certainly   represented   in   Jamaica   by   Cosmo 

(q.    v.),    who    called    his    son    Robert   ,    and    a 

34 


brother  of  Sir  William  Gordon,  the  diplomat  (1726- 
1798). 

Robert  Gordon  married,  Oct.  8,  1799,  Isabella, 
daughter  of  James  Dunn,  of  Alderston  ("Scots 
Magazine"). 

Robert  Gordon,  Great  Britain,  owner  in  fee  of 
Windsor  Lodge  estate,  St  James's,  put  in  a  claim 
for  353  slaves,  but  the  £6252  12s  given  for  them 
was  paid  to  Hibbert  and  Co.,  counter  claimants 
for  the  mortgagees  and  in  virtue  of  a  judgment  of 
Oct.,  1827,  for  £15,589  (T.71,  1554,  claim  169).  He 
also  claimed  for  167  slaves  on  the  Paisley  estate, 
but  again  the  Hibberts  got  £3135  in  virtue  of  a 
mortgage,  July  24,  1800,  of  £15,589  (Ibid.,  claim 
184).  He  is  probably  Robert  Home  Gordon,  son 
of  Dr  John  Gordon  (q.  v.),  who  was  co-respondent 
in  a  divorce  suit,  1794,  with  Mrs  Biscoe,  whose 
husband  was  awarded  £4000  damages.  Gordon, 
who  married  the  lady,  was  said  in  1794  to  be 
worth  £7000  or  £8000  a  year.  He  lived  in  Albe- 
marle Street,  London,  and  bought  the  ancestral 
estate  of  Embo.  He  died  in  1826,  and  his  widow, 
who  died  in  1839,  sold  Embo  to  the  ducal  Suther- 
lands. 

Robert  Gordon  and  William  Langmead  entered 
a  counter  claim  as  judgment  creditors  for  £10,000, 
Jany.  26,  1835,  on  the  estate  of  Stephen  Oakby 
Attlay,  Prospect  estate,  Portland,  Jamaica  (T.71, 
1549,  claim  36). 

Robert  Home  Gordon,  see  Robert  Gordon,  supra. 

Robert  William  Gordon,  Montego  Bay,  St 
James's,  got  £29  compensation  for  one  slave,  April 
11,  1836,  William  Banks,  New  York,  withdrawing 
a  counter  claim  as  judgment  creditor  for  £6291 
(T.71,  1554,  claim  61). 

Rupert  Daniel  Gordon,  son  of  Robert  Gordon, 
Achness,  died  at  Clarendon,  June,  1802  ("Scots 
Magazine").  He  is  probably  the  same  as  Rupert 
Daniel  Gordon,  who  became  a  cornet  in  Colonel 
M'Dowall's  Fencible  Cavalry,  April  18,  1786. 

Samuel  Gordon:  will  registered  1722  (Book  16, 
No.  48,  Island  Secretary's  Office). 

Samuel  and  Mary  Gordon  had  Thomas,  baptised 
August  4,  1717,  in  St  Catherine's  parish. 

Samuel  and  Cecilia   Gordon  had — 

1.  Jane,  baptised  July  25,  1739,  in  St  Catherine's 
,        parish. 

2.  Francis,  baptised  Sept.  15,  1753,  in  St  Cathe- 

rine's parish. 
Samuel     Gordon,     son     of     Samuel     Gordon     of 
Jamaica,    matriculated    at    Oriel    College,     Oxford, 

35 


Dec.  17,  1762,  aged  22  (Foster's  "Oxford  Alumni"). 
Samuel  Gordon,  Kingston,  was  Attorney-General 
of  Jamaica.     He  had — 

1.  Thomas  Gordon. 

2.  John  Gordon. 

3.  Robert  Gordon. 

4.  Janet    Gordon.       She    married    in    1760    John 

Hibbert  of  Manchester  (1732-69).  Their  son 
Robert  Hibbert,  founded  the  Hibbert 
Trust  in  1847.  There  is  a  full 
pedigree  of  the  Hibberts  in  Cusan's 
"Herts,"  vi.,  180.  The  Hibberts 
had  lent  money  to  Robert  Gordon 

(q-  v.). 

Susanna  Ann  Gordon,  St  Andrews  Hill,  St 
James's,  got  £63  compensation  for  30  slaves,  Dec. 
7,  1835  (T.71,  1554,  claim  228). 

Susanna  Ann  Gordon  got  £7503  compensation  for 
354  slaves  on  the  Home  Castle  estate,  St  Anne's, 
and  £2461  for  119  slaves  on  Dernock  Pen.,  Jany. 
11,  1835.  She  claimed  through  her  attorney,  Robert 
Fairweather,  who  himself  owned  18  slaves  (T.71, 
1538,  claims  1498,  1499). 

Susanna  Ann  Gordon,  St  James's,  and  Anne 
Edgar  Sutherland,  were  owners  in  fee  of  one  slave 
at  Montego  Bay,  and  got  £29  compensation,  Feb. 
29,  1836  (T.71,  i554,  claim  781). 

Thomas  Gordon,  will  registered  1746  (Book  27 ; 
Island  Secretary's  Office). 

Thomas  Gordon  married  Ann  .     In  his   will, 

registered  1748,  he  mentions  Ann  and  his  children, 
Susanna,  Ann,  John,  and  William,  and  appoints 
Dr  William  Gordon,  M.D.,  Bristol,  as  executor 
(Archer's  "Jamaica  Monuments"). 

Thomas  Gordon  had  a  daughter,  Elizabeth,  bap- 
tised in  St  Andrew's  parish,  Feb.  8,  1787. 

Thomas  Gordon  was  one  of  the  magistrates  of 
St  Thomas-in-the-East  and  St  David,  Surrey  county 
(Douglas  and  Aikman's  "Almanack  and  Register 
for  Jamaica,"  1783,  p.  73). 

Hon.  Thomas  Gordon,  Chief  Justice  of  Port 
Royal,  died  at  Kingston,  August  3,  1771. 

Thomas  Gordon  had  Elizabeth  Gordon,  baptised 
February  2,  1787,  in  St  Andrew  parish. 

Thomas  Gordon,  Port  Maria  Bay,  died  June  15, 
1807,  at  sea  on  his  wa  home.  He  was  the  son  of 
Rev.  G.  W.  Algernon  Gordon,  minister  of  Keith. 

Thomas  Gordon  (born  1810)  was  the  son  of  the 
owner  of  the  Orange  Estate  (or  Orangefield), 
Jamaica,  who,  in  turn,  inherited  it  from  his  father. 
36 


Thomas  came  to  Scotland  when  his  father  married 
a  second  time.  He  married  Janet,  daughter  of 
his  employer,  Mr  Drennan,  a  stonemason.  His 
grandson,  Mr  J.  A.  Gordon,  Kenmuir,  6a  Langdale 
Road,  Thornton  Heath,  tells  me  that  Thomas,  who 
lived  at  Riccarton,  Ayrshire,  "used  at  times  to 
declare  that  he  was  Viscount  Kenmuir,"  and  when 
Adam,  the  8th  Viscount  (1792-1847)  died,  "he  made 
some  move  to  push  his  claim  forward.  Thomas 
and  his  wife,  Janet  Drennan,  had  four  sons — 

1.  Robert  Gordon  (died  1905) :  married  Margaret 

M'Clymont,    now    (1914)    aged   83,    and   had 
Thomas  Gordon:   still  alive. 
Robert  Gordon :  still  alive. 
John  Alexander  Gordon:  now  living  at 
Kenmuir,    Thornton    Heath ;    mar- 
ried, and  his  issue,  Helen  Gordon, 
still  alive. 

2.  James  Gordon:  died  in  1906  or  1907. 

3.  John  Gordon :  died  about  1901. 

4.  Janet  Gordon:  died  about  1909. 

Thomas  Gordon,  trustee  for  John  Fisher,  Union 
(214  slaves),  and  Juana  Pier  (145  slaves)  claimed 
compensation,  but  admitted  the  counter  claim  of 
the  Rev.  John  Campbell  Fisher  (T.71,  1551,  claims 
362,  730,  and  1074). 

Thomas  Cosmo  Gordon.  In  his  attestation  papers 
as  an  officer  in  the  Indian  army  preserved  at  the 
India  Office,  he  states  on  oath  that  he  was  born 
in  the  parish  of  Anne's.  "No  register  of  births 
being  kept  in  this  parish,  a  certificate  of  his  age 
cannot  be  obtained,  but  he  is  informed  by  his 
parents,  which  he  verily  believes  to  be  true,  that 
he  is  between  the  age  of  15  and  25  years  at  the 
present  time" — sworn  at  the  Mansion  House,  April 
28,  1791. 

Walter  Gordon,  sometime  overseer  of  the  plan- 
tation of  Airy  Castle,  Jamaica;  will  April  27,  1785 
("Edinburgh   Commissariot"). 

William  Gordon,  will  registered  1705  (Book  11, 
No.  147:   Island  Secretary's  Office). 

William  Gordon  married  Mary  ,  and  had  a 

son,  William,  baptised  in  St  Catherine's  parish, 
April  18,   1669. 

William  and  Margaret  Gordon  had — 

1.  William,  baptised  March  28,  1701,  in  St  Cathe- 

rine's parish. 

2.  Catherine,    baptised    October    17,    1704,    in   St 

Catherine's  parish. 

37 


William  and  Mary  Gordon  had — 

1.  Alexander,  baptised  April  3,  1722,  in  St  Cathe- 

rine's parish. 

2.  William,    baptised    September    6,    1724,    in    St 

Catherine's    parish. 
William  and  Elizabeth  Gordon  had — 

1.  Charles   Gordon,   born  April  24,   and   baptised 

May  29,  1723. 

2.  William  Gordon,   born  April  10,   and  baptised 

April  23,  1724. 

3.  John   Gordon,   born   October  27,   and  baptised 

November  10,  1727. 

4.  Robert  Gordon,   born   December  29,   1727   (P), 

and   baptised  February  3,  1728.    All  these 
baptisms   took   place   in   St   Mary's   parish, 
Kingston. 
William  and  Susanna  Gordon  had — 

1.  Thomas,  born  January  30,  and  baptised  Feby. 

18,   1730. 

2.  Susanna    Gordon,    born   July   3,    and   baptised 

August  18,  1729,  both  baptisms  taking  place 
in  St  Mary  parish,  Kingston. 

William  and  Mary  Gordon,  of  St  John's,  had 
Margaret,  baptised  June  15,  1733,  in  St  Dorothy 
parish. 

William  and  Mary  Gordon  had  Elizabeth,  bap- 
tised October  2,   1740,   in  Clarendon  parish. 

William  Gordon  died  at  Montego  Bay,  1766. 

William  and  Alexandrina  Barbary  Gordon  (per- 
haps the  daughter  of  Larchin  Gordon,  q.  v.)  had 
Richard,  baptised  May  5,  1794,  in  Clarendon  parish. 

William  Gordon,  of  St  Elizabeth,  leaves  bequests 
to  Susanna,  daughter  of  Harry  Gordon,  of  St 
James's  (Archer's  "Monumental  Inscriptions  of 
Jamaica"). 

William  Gordon,  St  Catherine,  got  £132  15s  8d 
compensation  for  six  slaves,  Jany.  11,  1836  (T.71, 
1533,  claim  170). 

William  Gordon,  Tryall  and  Ryley's  estates, 
Hanover,  got  £483  compensation  for  25  slaves,  Oct. 
19,  1835  (T.71,  1553,  claim  59). 

William  Gordon,  will  registered  1738  (Book  22; 
Island  Secretary's  Office). 

William  Gordon,  Montego  Bay,  got  £225  com- 
pensation for  nine  slaves,  Dec.  23,  1835  (T.71,  1554, 
claim  304). 

William  Gordon,  St.  James's,  as  trustee  for  Mary 
Ann  Bryan,  Angelica  Stuart,  and  others,  Montego 

38 


Bay,  got  £80  compensation  for  six  slaves,  April  18, 
1836  (T.71,  1554,  claim  263). 

William  Gordon,  owner  in  fee,  Darliston,  West- 
moreland, got  £1938  compensation  for  94  slaves, 
Feb.  8,  1836  (T.71,  1552,  claim  305). 

Dr  William  Gordon  settled  at  Montego  Bay  and 
became  a  judge  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  Jamaica 
and  a  Member  of  Council.  He  was  the  son  of 
Col.  John  Gordon  of  Coynachie,  born  1786,  and 
died  at  Elgin,  Jany.  26,  1838.  He  is  dealt  with 
in  the  "House  of  Gordon"   (ii.,  323). 

William  Christian  Gordon,  St  Elizabeth's  parish, 
guardian  of  John  James  Gordon,  St  Helena,  got 
£54  compensation  for  three  slaves,  April  4,  1836. 
A  counter  claim  by  Thomas  Dougan,  legatee,  for 
£409  was  withdrawn  (T.71,  1551,  claim  215). 

William  Christian  Gordon  and  his  wife,  Jane,  got 
£25   19s   6d   for  slaves,   owned   by   the   wife   at   St 
Helena   (T.71,   1551,   claim  215). 
MONTSERRAT. 

This  is  a  very  small  island,  only  33  square  miles. 
It  was  discovered  by  Columbus  in  1493,  and  settled 
by  the  British  in  1632.  It  was  French  in  1664-8, 
and  1782-4,  but  has  since  been  ours.  The  following 
Gordons  were  there  (though  there  were  more  for 
the  slave  commissioners  to  deal  with) : — 

Alexander  Gordon  was  appointed  to  the  Council 
of  Montserrat,  Dec.  13,  1765,  in  place  of  Edward 
Darell,  who  had  left  the  island  (Oliver's  "Antigua," 
i.,  185:  Privy  Council  Register  of  England,  under 
the  date  Feb.  10,  1766).  Alexander  Gordon,  Col- 
lector, Montserrat,  was  stated  by  President  White, 
April  27,  1778,  to  be  going  to  England.  The  Pre- 
sident recommends  Anthony  Hodges  in  his  place 
(Oliver's  "Antigua,"  ii.,  81). 

John  Gordon,  Montserrat,  asked  Sir  John  Gordon, 
of  Invergordon,  Nov.,  1758,  to  get  him  the  Collector- 
ship  of  the  island.  He  was  a  grandson  of  George 
Gordon  of  Culmaly.  In  case  the  collectorship 
would  not  be  got,  he  wanted  Sir  John  to  solicit  for 
him  the  collectorship  of  Mariogalante.  Sir  John 
promised  to  speak  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle  about 
it  (MS. :  Pocket  Book  of  Sir  John  Gordon :  now  in 
the  possession  of  Andrew  Ross,  Ross  Herald, 
Edinburgh:  pp.  462,  463). 

NEVIS. 

Nevis  has  only  50  square  miles.  It  was  dis- 
covered by  Columbus,  and  colonised  by  the  British 
in  1628.  It  was  taken  by  the  French  in  1782,  but 
restored  to  England  in  1783. 

39 


Ann  Gordon,  parish  of  St  Thomas,  Lowland,  got 
£119  13s  4d  compensation  for  eight  slaves,  Feb.  15, 
1836  (T.71,  1563,  claim  142). 

James  Gordon  was  made  Collector  at  Nevis,  Aug. 
20,  1733  ("Customs  Book,"  P.R.O.,  xiii.,  p.  397).  On 
July  4,  1739,  the  Court  of  Errors  affirmed  a  judg- 
ment of  the  Court  of  King's  Bench  and  Common 
Pleas  in  an  action  of  scandal  and  defamation 
brought  against  John  Woodley,  merchant,  Nevis, 
by  James  Gordon  and  William  Wells  of  Nevis, 
merchants,  for  words  spoken  by  him  in  order  to 
deprive  the  plaintiffs  of  their  reputation,  business, 
and  livelihood  in  the  way  of  consignment  of  negroes, 
and  to  deter  and  hinder  His  Majesty's  subjects 
from  consigning  any  negroes  to  and  have  dealings 
with  them.  John  Woodley  appealed  against  this 
to  the  Committee  of  the  Privy  Council,  which 
dismissed  his  appeal,  May  7,  1741  ("Acts  of  the 
Privy  Council,''  Colonial,  vol.  iii.,  No.  505).  Gordon 
got  leave,  Feb.  17,  1743  ("Customs  Book,"  P.R.O., 
xv.,  p.  184). 

ST  CHRISTOPHER  OR  ST  KITTS. 

This  island  contains  only  65  square  miles.  It 
was  discovered  by  Columbus  in  1483,  and  colonised 
both  by  the  British  and  French,  but  was  finally 
ceded  to  Britain  in  1713. 

James  Gordon,  Knockespock,  bought  the  Muddy 
Pond  estate  in  parcels  in  1737,  1738,  and  1742. 
There  were  no  slaves  on  it.  Up  to  1820  it  pro- 
duced £90  rent,  but  "nothing  since."  Mr  Gordon 
also  owned  11,932  square  feet  in  Basseterre  (Oliver's 
"Antigua,"  ii.,  27). 

ST.  CROIX. 

This  little  island  was  purchased  from  the  French 
by  Christian  VI.  of  Denmark  in  1733.  It  was  taken 
by  Sir  Alexander  Cochrane,  Dec.  22,  1807,  but 
restored  in  1814. 

Dr  John  Gordon,  St  Croix,  is  commemorated  by 
a  tomb  in  Bath  Abbey,  bearing  the  inscription,  "Dr 
John  Gordon,  M.D.,  of  the  island  of  St  Croix, 
West  Indies,  [died  J  January  30,  1707,  aged  53" : 
with  the  motto,  "Vel  Pax,  vel  Bellum."  He  seems 
to  be  the  "John  Gordon,  M.D.,  Physician  to  the 
King  of  Denmark  for  the  Danish  East  [sic]  Indies," 
who  died  at  Bath,  Feb.  16,  1807  ("Scots  Mag."). 
Lady  Commerell  informed  me,  Aug.  4,  1911,  that 
Dr  Gordon  had  a  brother  Cosmo,  a  son  of  George, 
who  died  unmarried,  and  two  daughters,  Elizabeth 
(who  married  William  Stedman),  and  one  who 
married  M'Caul.     On  the   other   hand,   Mrs  S. 

40 


S.  Fischer,  Thetford,  Berkhamsted,  told  Miss  L.  S. 
Lumsden,  Aberdeen,  May  23,  1910,  that  Dr  Gor- 
don's sisters  (not  daughters)  were  Mrs  M'Caul  of 
Craigbank    and    Mrs    Stedman.        "His     wife     was 

Sarah  ,  daughter  of  an  Aberdeenshire  family, 

and  his  only  son  was  George,  captain  in  the  42nd 
(Black  Watch),  who  survived  the  battle  of  Toulouse. 
.  .  .  Dr  Gordon  was  an  Aberdeenshire  laird.  .  .  . 
he  was  of  the  house  of  Lesmoir.  My  greatgrand- 
father did  not  own  "Gordon  Rock,"  St  Croix.  This 
was  the  property  of  his  daughter,  Mrs  Buttelle, 
my  grandmother.  Dr  Gordon  was  my  father's 
grandfather."  That  there  was  some  such  relation- 
ship is  seen  by  the  fact  that  Cosmo  Gordon,  for- 
merly of  St  Croix,  was  represented  in  a  claim  on 
an  estate  in  Trinidad  (q.  v.)  by  John  Gordon 
M'Caul  and  William  Stedman  of  St  Cruix  (T.71, 
1575,  claim  1662).  Lady  Commerell  states  that 
"old  Mr  John  Gordon  of  Mount  Bio,  near  Dum- 
barton, was  cousin  of  the  father  of  Mrs  Stedman 
and  Mrs  M'Caul  and  guardian  of  the  latter." 

John  Gordon,  Coyne  Valley,  died  at  St  Croix, 
July  22,  1824,  in  his  83rd  year  ("Scots  Magazine," 
vol.  15,  N.S.,  p.  767). 

Dr  William  Gordon,  physician,  St  Croix,  had  a 
son,  George,  who  was  made  a  burgess  of  Banff, 
1767  (Cramond's  "Annals  of  Banff,"  ii.,  424). 

ST  LUCIA. 

This  island  contains  233  square  miles.  It  was 
first  settled  by  the  British  in  1639,  but  they  were 
expelled  by  the  natives.  It  was  settled  by  the 
French  in  1650,  but  was  taken  by  the  British  in 
several  subsequent  wars.  It  was  siezed  by  Britain 
in  1802,  and  confirmed  to  her,  1814: 

Daniel  Glasford  Gordon  was  an  attorney  at 
Castries  parish,  Gros  Ilet,  St  Lucia,  in  1821  (T.71, 
1564,  claim  49).  As  administrator  of  Lucien  Rameau 
he  claimed  for  twelve  slaves,  at  Palma,  in  1836 
(Ibid.,  claim  60). 

Robert  Cruden  Gordon,  parish  of  Castries,  got 
£176  9s  5d  compensation  for  five  slaves,  Dec.  21, 
1835  (T.71,  1564,  claim  284).  As  administrator  of 
the  succession  of  the  late  Dr  de  la  Busquiere,  he 
claimed  £9441  for  142  slaves  on  Mons.  Durand  Ve. 
Finturier's  estate  of  Beansejour,  a  quarter  of 
Soufriere,  1836  (Ibid.,  claim  495).  Gordon  also 
claimed  on  a  notarial  bond,  dated  10th  June,  1830, 
for  three  slaves  belonging  to  Veuve  Bernard  Pari- 
gan,  L'Esperance,  Soufriere  (Ibid.,  claim  523). 

41 


ST  VINCENT. 

This  island  contains  140  square  miles.  It  was 
long  considered  a  neutral  island,  but  at  the  peace 
of  1763  France  agreed  that  the  right  to  it  be  vested 
in  Great  Britain.  We  engaged  in  a  war  against 
the  Caribs,  who  had  to  consent  to  a  peace,  by 
whioh  they  ceded  a  large  tract  of  land  to  the 
British  Crown.  In  1779  the  Caribs  greatly  contri- 
buted to  the  reduction  of  the  island  by  the  French, 
who  restored  it  to  us  in  1783.  In  1795  the  French 
again  instigated  the  Caribs  to  revolt,  and  the 
rising  took  several  months  to  subdue. 

Catherine  Gordon,  Kingstown,  had  one  slave  on 
Oct.  14,  1817  (T.71,  p.  616). 

Elizabeth  Gordon,  owner  in  fee,  Calliaqua,  got 
£58  15s  compensation  for  two  slaves,  Feb.  12,  1836 
(T.71,  1573,  claim  523). 

Harriet  Gordon,  Bow  Wood,  got  £163  19s  3d 
compensation  for  five  slaves,  Feb.  22,  1836  (T.71, 
1573,  claim  596). 

James  Adam  Gordon  [of  Knockespock],  owner  in 
fee,  Fair  Hall,  St  George's,  had  248  slaves.  He 
withdrew  his  claim,  Aug.  28,  1835,  in  favour  of 
Sir  William  Abdy,  bart.,  Sir  Thomas  Fellowes,  kt., 
Rev.  George  Caldwell,  clerk,  and  James  Adam 
Gordon.  On  Feb.  22,  1836,  compensation  to  the 
amount  of  £6438  13s  7d  was  awarded  to  the  counter 
claimants  (T.71,  1573,  claim  549). 

Jane,  otherwise  Jeanette  Gordon,  Mary  Gordon, 
and  Lucinda  Gordon,  of  Rousseau,  Dominica,  as 
annuitant  under  the  will  of  Anthony  Gordon ;  and 
Harriet  Gordon  Hill,  and  John  Hill,  as  guardians 
of  Henrietta  J.  Hill  by  the  will  of  Robert  Gordon, 
entered,  in  1835,  a  counter  claim  to  that  of  John, 
Robert,  and  Gordon  Thomson,  who  had  claimed 
for  79  slaves  on  the  Spring  estate.  Henrietta 
Gordon  Hill  had  an  annuity  of  £50  under  the  will 
of  Robert  Gordon  (T.71,  1573,  claim  645).  Hen- 
rietta Gordon  Hill,  Kingstown,  St  Vincent,  got 
£71  2s  for  two  slaves,  Feb.  8,  1837  (Ibid.,  claim 
351). 

TOBAGO. 

This  island  contains  114  square  miles.  The  pre- 
sent Gordons  of  Newton,  originally  a  Portsoy 
family,  made  a  fortune  there,  and  the  Gordons  of 
Cluny  were  largely  interested  in  the  plantations. 
Among  other  Gordons  on  the  island  was 

Judge  Gordon,  who  with  five  males  slaves  and 
one  female,  appears  in  a  census  of  1753  (Oliver's 
"Antigua,"  vol.  i.,  p.  cxiii.). 

42 


TORTOLA. 

This  is  one  of  the  Virgin  Islands.  It  was  settled 
by  Dutch  buccaneers  about  1648.  They  were  ex- 
pelled in  1666  by  the  British,  who  have  since  held 
it.  Small  though  Tortola  is,  there  were  several 
Gordons  there : — 

Joseph  G.  Gordon. — William  Pickering,  Tortola, 
as  trustee  for  the  estate  of  Reef  Island,  under  the 
will  of  Joseph  G.  Gordon  and  Ellen,  his  wife,  got 
£156  14s  compensation  for  11  slaves,  Oct.  24,  1836 
(T.71,  1564,  claim  49). 

Daniel  Hubbard  Outerbridge  Gordon  was  ap- 
pointed Treasurer  of  the  Virgin  Islands,  March  7, 
1844  ("Gentleman's  Magazine,"  vol.  21,  New  Series, 
p.  415).  He  was  appointed  Chief  Justice  of  the 
Virgin  Islands,  June  27,  1846.  He  was  the  son  of 
William  Gordon,  Tortola  (Ibid.,  vol.  26,  New  Series, 
p.  193). 

Eleanor  Eliza  Gordon,  St  George,  Tortola,  owner 
in  fee,  claimed  for  six  slaves ;  but  £85  15s  was  paid, 
Oot.  24,  1836,  to  the  counter  claimants,  William 
George  Cribb  and  William  Rogers  Isaacs,  as  as- 
signees in  priority  of  compensation,  towards  the 
payment  of  £219  10s  due  on  a  bond  of  assignation, 
dated  April  25,  1835  (T.71,  1564,  claim  206).  William 
Rogers  Isaacs  himself  got  £289  compensation  for 
20  slaves  at  Road  Town  (Ibid.,  claim  41).  Miss 
Eleanor  Eliza  Gordon,  formerly  of  Tortola,  "but 
now  supposed  to  be  married  and  living  somewhere 
in  Scotland,"  was  requested  to  communicate  with 
Thomas  and  Roberts,  solicitors,  Worcester  ("Times," 
Nov.  5,  1849). 

Francis  Cavalie  Gordon. — Henry  James  Dyer,  St 
George's,  Tortola,  as  surviving  trustee  of  Sarah 
Williams  Gordon,  for  the  issue  of  Francis  Cavalie 
Gordon  and  Sarah,  his  wife,  was  awarded  £72  10s 
9d  compensation  for  six  slaves,  Oct.  24,  1836  (T.71, 
1564,  claim  69). 

William  Gordon,  St  George's,  Tortola,  had  seven 
slaves.  A  counter  claim  was  entered  by  Elizabeth 
Simpson,  of  No.  1  Abbey  Place,  Regent's  Park, 
London,  who  claimed  under  the  will  of  her  father, 
Isaac  Pickering  (which  was  dated  June  16,  1802), 
one  slave  in  the  possession  of  William  Gordon.  On 
Dec.  13,  1836,  it  was  stated  that  William  Gordon 
was  dead,  and  that  his  son,  Daniel  Hubbard  Outer- 
bridge  Gordon,  had  administered  his  estate.  Daniel 
got  compensation  to  the  extent  of  £100  13s  Id, 
Nov.  21,  1836  (T.71,  1564,  claim  1).  Daniel  also  got 
£39  15s  9d  on  Oct.  24,  1836,  for  thr^e  slaves  on 
43 


behalf  of  the  late  Martha  Harris  King,  St  George, 
Tortola  (Ibid.,  claim  54). 

TRINIDAD. 

Next  to  Jamaica,  Trinidad  is  the  largest  British 
island  in  the  West  Indies,  covering  an  area  of  1754 
square  miles.  It  was  discovered  by  Columbus  in 
1498.  It  was  taken  from  the  Spaniards  by  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh  in  1595,  and  by  the  French  from 
the  British  in  1676.  It  capitulated  to  Sir  Ralph 
Abercromby  in  1797,  and  our  possession  of  it  was 
confirmed  by  the  Peace  of  Amiens,  1802.  One  of 
the  leading  men  on  the  island  at  this  moment  is 
Mr  William  Gordon  Gordon. 

Cosmo  Gordon,  formerly  of  St  Croix ;  John 
Gordon  M'Caul ;  and  William  Stedman  of  St  Croix, 
as  the  executors  of  Cosmo  Gordon,  formerly  of  St 
Croix,  put  in  a  counter  claim  (17th  Sept.,  1835)  on 
the  claim  of  Robert  Montgomerie  and  G.  G.  Mac- 
dougal,  Devilla  estate,  Savonetta,  Trinidad,  who 
had  160  slaves,  on  the  ground  that  they  were 
mortgagees  by  deed  dated  6th  May,  1825,  claiming 
for  £7096  with  further  interest  on  £5852  from  April 
28,  1825.  There  was  also  a  counter  claim  by  Ann 
Macdougal,  wife  of  William  Pearman,  devisee  under 
the  will  of  George  Gordon,  for  £2274  (T.71,  1575, 
claim  1662).     See  John,  St  Croix. 

Fanchionette  Gordon,  of  San  Fernanda,  guardian 
of  Mary  Banks,  North  Naparinna,  got  £154  17s  5d 
compensation  for  four  slaves,  March  28,  1855  (T.71, 
1575,  claim  1710).  As  owner  in  fee  at  North 
Naparinna,  she  hereby  got  £128  0s  2d  for  two 
slaves  (Ibid.,  xi.,  claim  1733). 

Thomas  Gordon,  Port  of  Spain,  had  two  slaves, 
for  whom  his  guardian,  Eliza  Kennedy  Wilson, 
claimed.  She  was  appointed  his  guardian  by  the 
Court,  July  11,  1836.  She  had  two  slaves  of  her 
own,  for  whom  she  got  £44  7s  4d  compensation, 
Feb.  29,  1836  (T.71,  1574,  claim  508).  It  was  stated, 
Oct.  5,  1836,  that  the  two  slaves  in  claim  508  were 
the  issue  of  a  slave  condemned,  and  were  regis- 
tered as  the  property  of  Thomas  Gordon  (Ibid., 
claim  509). 

William  Gordon  Gordon  was  born  at  Portpatrick 
in  1848,  and  educated  at  Musselburgh  and  Durham 
Grammar  School.  He  entered  the  office  of  An- 
thony Cumming  &  Co.,  Trinidad.  In  1872  he 
begean  business  on  his  own  account  with  Campbell 
Hannah,  and  is  now  head  of  the  firm  of  Gordon, 
Grant  &  Co.  He  was  made  President  of  the  Legis- 
lative Council  in  1888.     He  owns  large  cocoa,  cocoa 

44 


hut,  and  sugar  properties,  and  has  large  interests 
in  Venezuela  ("Sphere,"  Feb.,  1903).  He  married 
in  1872,  Gertrude  Maude,  youngest  daughter  of  the 
Hon.  John  Scott  Bushe,  C.M.G.,  Colonial  Secretary 
of  Trinidad.  She  died  suddenly  of  heart  failure 
at  Knowsley,  Port  of  Spain,  1913.  Their  only 
daughter,  Alice  Maude  Mary,  married  at  All  Saints, 
Port  of  Spain,  January  21,  1905,  Reginald  Edmund 
Harriss,  late  of  the  Lancashire  Fusiliers.  Mr 
Gordon  married  secondly,  Oct.  9,  1913,  at  St  Mary 
Abbots,  Kingston,  Mary  Jeannie,  widow  of  George 
F.  Bushe,  Trinidad,  and  elder  daughter  of  Sir 
David  Wilson,  K.C.M.G.   ("Times,"  Oct.  11). 


CONVICTS  FOR  THE  COLONIES. 

Something  has  been  said  in  these  articles  about 
the  deporting  of  convicts  to  the  Colonies.  The 
subject  is  peculiarly  topical,  for  a  long  chapter 
(pp.  97-170)  is  devoted  to  Banishment  in  Mr  George 
Ives's  scholarly  new  book,  "A  History  of  Penal 
Methods :  Criminals,  Witches,  Lunatics,"  issued 
last  week  by  Stanley  Paul,  London.  Some 
industrious  soul  will  yet  go  over  the  file  of  the 
"Aberdeen  Journal"  and  pick  out  the  cases.  Mean- 
time, let  me  cite  a  few. 

1765,  June  3. — William  Gordon,  an  old  soldier, 
was  sentenced  at  the  Aberdeen  Circuit  Court  to 
banishment  for  life  in  the  plantations  for  theft  in 
the  previous  May   ("Aberdeen  Journal"). 

1785,  Oct.  2. — Janet  Gordon,  from  Cairnie,  or 
Mills  of  Cullithy,  was  sentenced  at  the  Inverness 
Circuit  Court  to  transportation  for  housebreaking 
("Aberdeen  Journal"). 

1789,  Jany.  28. — Mary  Gordon,  from  Dundee,  was 
sentenced  at  Aberdeen  to  be  banished  from  the 
country  for  the  theft  of  a  clock  ("Aberdeen 
Journal"). 

1730. — Jane  Gordon  at  Shields,  apparently  a 
Scotswoman,  was  sentenced  to  transportation.  She 
appealed  to  Lord  Selkirk  in  a  petition  now  pre- 
served at  the  Public  Record  Office,  London  (S.P. 
Dom.  Entry  Books,  vol.  257,  p.  55) : — "Your  Lord- 
ship's petitioner  has  been  notoriously  abused  by 
one  Richard  Hinds,  who  came  into  your  petitioner's 
shop  and  asked  for  a  dram,  and  was  answered  by 
her  she  had  none.  Upon  which,  the  said  Hinds 
swore  and  curs'd,  and  called  your  petitioner  several 
ill  names,  and  would  not  go  away  till  he  had  a 
dram.  Upon  which,  your  petitioner,  seeing  him  so 
obstinate,  gave  him  a  dram  of  such  as  she  had, 
45 


which  they  call  'Parliamentary  brandy,'  and  which 
she  kept  in  her  house  on  purpose  to  oblige  her 
friends  and  customers  that  come  to  lay  out  money 
with  her,  she  and  her  husband  then  living  in  very 
good  credit  and  endeavouring  in  an  honest  way 
to  get  a  livelihood  by  selling  bread,  butter,  cheese, 
fish,  etc.  It  can  be  proved  that  your  petitioner 
had  paid  to  some  bread  bakers  at  Newcastle  £20 
a  year  for  rye  bread,  to  others  £10,  to  some  £12, 
and  £15,  and  never  wronged  any  body  in  her  life. 

"May  it  please  your  lordship  the  reason  of  your 
petitioner's  distressing  her  self  in  this  way  is  that 
after  the  said  Hinds  had  drunk  the  dram  he  asked 
for,  he  pulled  a  piece  of  paper  out  of  his  pocket, 
and  threw  it  down  on  the  table  and  said : — 'You 
bitch,  there  is  two  lines  will  send  you  to  Morpeth 
gaol.' 

"Your  petitioner,  may  it  please  your  honour, 
surprised  at  these  words,  snatched  the  paper  off 
the  table,  and  held  it  in  her  hand  till  her  husband 
and  neighbours  came  in,  the  6aid  Hinds  having 
her  then  by  the  throat,  and  if  she  had  not  had 
timely  assistance  [she]  might  have  been  strungled. 

"Your  petitioner  then  showed  the  paper  to  her 
husband  and  friends,  which,  when  opened,  had  not 
so  much  as  one  word  or  letter  writ  in  it,  nor  the 
least  individual  thing  wrapped  therein. 

"The  said  Hinds,  may  it  please  your  lordship, 
went  immediately  to  a  Justice  of  the  Peace,  and 
swore  your  petitioner  had  robbed  him  of  two 
guineas,  which  he  said  was  wrapped  up  in  that 
paper  mentioned  above,  tho'  there  was  sufficient 
witnesses  to  prove  the  contrary.  Yet,  notwith- 
standing, your  petitioner  was  obliged  to  answer  at 
the  Assizes  at  Newcastle,  where  she  went  without 
acquainting  any  of  her  friends  with  it,  and  was 
ordered  for  transportation  without  being  examined 
or  speaking  so  much  as  one  word  for  her  self. 

"Your  petitioner  hopes  your  lordship  will  con- 
sider the  hardships  she  lies  under  on  account  of 
this  false  accusation,  which  is  purely  out  of  spight, 
btcause  the  said  Hinds  was  indebted  to  your  peti- 
tioner, and  a  master  of  a  ship  was  obliged  to  pay 
the  debt  for  him  for  the  sake  of  having  him  to  go 
a  voyage  at  sea  with  him;  after  which  he  was 
often  heard  to  threaten  your  petitioner's  destruc- 
tion. 

"Your    petitiontr,    therefore    humbly    begs    that 

your  lordship,  of  your  abundant  goodness,   would 

be  pleased  to  lend  your  helping  hand  to  the  kind 

assistance  of   a   poor  unfortunate   wretch,   who   is 

46 


now  plunged  in  the  depths  of  misery,  and  cannot 
escape  her  impending  fate,  unless  your  lordship 
interposes  and  prevail  with  Majesty  for  a  royal 
pardon." 

While  on  the  question  of  transportation,  one  may 
note  that  the  penitentiary  for  women  at  Botany 
Bay  is  described  in  Mr  Tighe  Hopkins's  new  book, 
"The  Romance  of  Fraud"  (1914:  pp.  109-110).  The 
"Factory,"  as  it  was  called,  "an  agreeable  retreat," 
was  under  the  charge  of  a  Mrs  Gordon.  Three 
classes  of  women  were  admitted — (1)  Those  who  had 
not  been  assigned  as  servants,  on  arrival  in  the 
Colony ;  (2)  those  whose  masters  had  returned  them 
upon  the  hands  of  the  Government;  and  (3)  those 
who,  having  fulfilled  their  terms,  were  biding  some 
blest  reversal  of  fortune.  Mrs  Gordon  had  two 
daughters,  who  were  regarded  as  not  the  most 
perfect  examples  of  virtue  to  the  numerous  females 
under  her  charge.  Mrs  Gordon's  "lambs"  were 
petted.  They  were  never  put  to  work ;  and  every 
girl  might  be  the  architect  of  her  own  fortune. 
The  "Factory"  was  at  once  a  moderately  grateful 
asylum,  show  place,  and  a  matrimonial  agency. 
"It  may  have  been  several  other  things,  and  was 
presumably  not  the  most  reputable  institution  in 
the  Colony.  A  child  born  there  was  baptised  in 
the  name  of  the  Governor  of  the  Colony.  Mrs 
Gordon,  one  may  conjecture,  retired  on  a  com- 
petency." Mr  Tighe  Hopkins  tells  me  he  has 
forgotten  where  he  discovered  about  Mrs  Gordon. 
Perhaps  some  of  your  readers  may  know. 


[THE  END.]